


Summer Lovin'

by ConnectionIsEverything



Category: Strictly Come Dancing RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:35:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29781747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConnectionIsEverything/pseuds/ConnectionIsEverything
Summary: AU fic in which Ranvir Singh heads away on a girls holiday to Sicily and catches the eye of a certain Italian called Giovanni Pernice.Full of flirting, potential romance and maybe some filth later on
Relationships: Giovanni Pernice/Ranvir Singh
Comments: 127
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Another AU fic! Once again another idea that popped up in my dreams and I had to write about it. I apologise if this fic starts off a little slow but things will develop as time goes by! Enjoy my lovelies! ❤️

“Who’s excited for our girls trip to Sicily then?” Susanna chimed cheerfully.

Another morning show of GMB had finished for the summer and Susanna wasted no time in booking a girls only trip to the island of Sicily for a couple of weeks. Ranvir rolled her eyes as she sat down at her dressing table. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to go but she had a son at home to think about and being a single mum meant twice the responsibility when it came to bringing up children. She had waited weeks to spend some quality mother and son time with Tushaan as it was now the summer holidays. 

All the other girls seemed to be going on this trip; Kate, Laura and Charlotte had all agreed to go but now it was just Ranvir they were waiting on to give her answer. The limelight was now on her and there was no denying that part of her wanted to say yes but she had already made plans for the next few weeks. It would take some serious convincing for her to ditch all plans and accept the offer.

“How about you, Ranvir?” Laura asked, spinning around in her chair to face her. “Are you coming?” 

Ranvir felt all eyes on her. A little getaway with the girls sounded nice after a busy few months working. She desperately needed a break from everything to switch off and relax. Ranvir parted her lips thinking maybe she just wasn’t as adventurous like her fellow friends. 

“Come on, Ranvir! You’re the only one here who hasn’t said yes!” Kate piped up from the other end of the room.

She felt slightly conflicted with her own mind but her son was her number one priority and she just couldn’t ditch him with her mum and sister for three weeks whilst she jetted off to Sicily. 

“I already have plans with Tushaan but you girls go and enjoy yourselves,” she replied with a little smile.

All four women sighed in response. They had to find a way to convince Ranvir to change her mind and they understood that she was a single mum working twice as hard but the woman deserved a break from the real world. Susanna shifted from her seat and moved to sit next to Ranvir, who was going through today’s newspapers with a highlighter pen and highlighted the day’s important headlines. The woman never seemed to stop working. Another reason why she was in need of a break.

“I know you have a son to think about Ranvir, but when was the last time you took some time for yourself?” 

Ranvir glanced up at the mirror and took a look at herself. The reflection was not a pretty sight in her eyes but the small dark black bags underneath her eyes were becoming more visible by the day. Ranvir was like a machine with a repetitive routine; wake up at three in the morning, go to work, come back home to work and maybe spruce up the house a little, pick Tushaan up from school, help him with homework, cook dinner, do the washing up and by the time she had finished all her chores it was time to go to bed. 

“In all honesty...I don’t actually remember,” she replied. 

It was the truth. Ranvir put her son and work before herself and sometimes it would take its toll on her but she had to keep going. Some days it was a task but she had to push herself. She would deny herself a break when the opportunity came about like right now with the upcoming girls holiday. 

_Take a break, Ranvir...before you wear yourself out exhausted._

Susanna placed a hand on her shoulder firmly, she could clearly see that Ranvir was dying for a break but was scared of failing as a mum by being selfish for taking time for herself which was not the case at all. 

“Ranvir, it’s okay to get away from everything every once in a while. I know you’ll suffer from mum guilt because you feel like you have to be perfect all the time but look at yourself. You work harder than any of us here and you don’t give yourself enough credit. Out of all of us, you deserve this break...just at least think about it.” 

Ranvir picked up what was probably her third coffee of the day already and took a small sip of it from the mug. Why the fuck did Susanna have to be so correct? If she accepted the offer, the mum guilt would kick in straight away but if she didn’t accept it then she would most likely regret it sooner or later.

By that time, all four women had packed up their stuff and were setting off to go home. Ranvir presumed they’d all be packing for the trip and preparing themselves for three weeks of gorgeous Sicilian sunshine. Ranvir was left sitting by herself staring at her reflection in the mirror. She hated looking in the mirror for that particular reason of having to see how tired and sleep deprived she looked. Thank god for the magic of makeup to hide her fatigued appearance. The poor woman was drained to the brim. 

Her eyes glanced down at her phone, seeing messages pop up from the group chat they had discussing holiday activities and places they were planning on visiting. Ranvir sighed whilst picking up her phone, swiping across the screen to unlock it and beginning to type out a message.

_You guys are right. You always are, unfortunately. I need a break. Count me in x_

Her thumb pressed send and soon the replies flooded in just seconds after the text had been delivered.

**Yes, Ranvir!**

Charlotte replied along with a series of happy emojis. Laura and Kate soon replied straight after with smiley faces and tons of love hearts. Susanna was of course the last to reply as she was most likely ranting on at her three sons over having a house party whilst she was gone. 

_This is going to be the best three weeks of your life, Ranvir! You most definitely won’t regret a single second of it!_

Ranvir hoped and prayed that would be true but now there was a task of telling Tushaan that she was going away for three weeks. It would most likely break his little heart and she’ll feel so guilty but Ranvir had finally accepted a much needed break. Hopefully her mum and sister would understand where she was coming from. 

Ranvir continued to ghost the group chat whilst sitting in the back of the car on the way home to start packing. Her mind was elsewhere though trying to figure out she was going to drop it lightly to her mum and sister that Tushaan would be staying with them for three weeks.

**Charlotte: since Sus and Rassa are the only single girls on this holiday...is a little holiday fling on the cards, ladies?**

_Susanna: well you never know. Might meet some hunky Italian 😉_

**_Laura: Ranvir needs a boyfriend asap_ **

Kate: A little fling might do her some good 

_Ranvir: I am here, you know people!_

_Susanna: I’m sorry but Kate is spitting facts. What you need is a good old fashioned British bonking 😏_

**_Laura: *Italian bonking_ **

**Charlotte: I second that**

Kate: 😌👀

_Ranvir: did you only invite me so I can get fucked by some slimy Italian?_

_Susanna: pack some HOT outfits because you’re gonna try and get some Italian all hot and bothered over you 😊_

_Ranvir: ha! No!_

Ranvir quickly muted the messages from the group chat on her phone. She loved her friends but trying to hook her up on some holiday fling is a big fat no. She was a forty three year old mum with zero sex appeal whatsoever, no man would ever look twice at her. A romance was definitely NOT on the cards even if a man did show some interest in her. 

She held that thought whilst she turned her head to stare outside the car window. Watching as the world went by and the comfort of the countryside came into view in the distance. 

_It’s going to be one hell of a three weeks, Ranvir._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The GMB ladies arrive in Sicily and there's a brief appearance by G 😉

The day had arrived and of course Ranvir was the first person to turn up at the airport with a checklist of things that she made sure she had. Ranvir was a bit of a nervous traveller, always scared that she had forgotten something and checked her bags at least twenty times that morning. She had smothered Tushaan with kisses before she left with her mum and sister. Thankfully, they didn’t mind keeping an eye on him for the next three weeks without bother. 

Kate, Susanna and Charlotte all arrived at the same time and of course Laura texted to say that she would be slightly late. As time went by, all four ladies became slightly irritable and conscious of the time.

“If Laura doesn’t hurry up then we’re leaving without her,” Susanna huffed as she looked down at her watch again. 

Ranvir glanced towards the distance and saw Laura walking hastily whilst dragging her suitcase behind her. She was definitely dressed up for the occasion wearing a very summery dress and giant sun hat with a pair of stylish sunglasses. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late, girls!” she shouted, now running in her sandals. 

All four women’s eyes widened, they felt severely under dressed in their travel clothes whilst Laura was dressed up like she was off to the Chelsea flower show. Susanna rolled her eyes and tapped her foot against the footpath.

“Please don’t tell me you’re late because you spent all that time deciding your outfit,” Charlotte said.

Laura looked pleased with herself that she had made the effort for this little girl's trip apart from the fact that her sun hat was slightly too big for her head. Susanna and Kate had already begun walking off towards the terminal leaving the other three women to catch up behind. 

It was a comfortable flight to Sicily, Ranvir spent the hours reading a book. She was already missing the main little man in her life, her son. She was secretly hoping the three weeks would fly by and she’ll be back in the comfort of the countryside. All five women felt the heat of the Sicilian sunshine as soon as they stepped off the plane. It wasn’t unbearable but it was a pleasant sort of heat. Ranvir was surprised at how beautiful the island was already with the stunning coastline and the sight of Mount Etna. 

They travelled to Sicily’s northern coastline to the Grand Palladium Sicilia Resort & Spa, set in the small town of Campofelice di Roccella. After doing some research whilst all cooped up in a car together, Ranvir discovered that the area was known for its long beaches and ancient archaeological sites. About eleven miles westwards along the coast there was a village called Cefalu which appealed to Ranvir a lot. Maybe this holiday could give her the chance to explore Sicily instead of being held back in the hotel grounds all day. 

Once arriving at the hotel they had been booked into their own rooms. Ranvir dragged her luggage behind her as she walked down the corridor, checking each room number before eventually finding hers. Ranvir inserted the key card into the slot before the small light turned green and she pushed the door open. It was a slight struggle holding the door open and trying to pull her suitcase in at the same time but she eventually got there in the end. 

Her contemporary hotel room was decorated in calming neutral tones. It featured minimalist furniture, pendant lighting and light blue accents. A very inviting king sized bed with the bedside tables on either side, a desk up against the wall opposite the bed. Ranvir peeked through the balcony window, almost gasping at the beautiful sea view which greeted her. 

Ranvir pulled open the balcony door and stepped outside into the warm air. Everything about Sicily she had seen so far was beyond beautiful. The warm breeze hit her which she found rather relaxing as she leaned forward against the balcony railing, looking ahead at the large swimming pool below. 

_Maybe this holiday wouldn't be so bad, after all._

She stood there for a little while, taking in the surroundings and her eyes kept gazing further towards the clear blue sea. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she went on to take a few photos of the beautiful view from her balcony mainly because she wanted to show Tushaan once returning home.

It was beginning to get late as the sun began to set in the far distance, Ranvir stayed exactly where she was to witness the moment. Her eyes glanced down not far below and saw a man walking back towards the hotel with a towel draped over his shoulders. He looked rather sweaty and his hair was flopping over his face. Ranvir tried to lean further over the balcony to get a better look at the man. He certainly didn’t look English in Ranvir’s eyes. She presumed he was Italian of some sort. The next thing she noticed was his missing shirt and the rather lovely sight of his muscled arms. 

_He looks rather dishy…_

Ranvir pushed that passing thought to the back of her mind, shaking her head in dismay that she actually thought that. She couldn’t see him fully but he glanced up whilst he was walking and saw Ranvir having a good look. A little charming smile appeared from the corner of his lips as she panicked and moved away from the railing. Taking a deep breath, Ranvir stepped back forward and leaned over to see if he was still there. He was gone. 

_Well that was short but sweet._

She made her way back into the room, sliding the balcony door closed before locking it for the evening. The views looked so beautiful and it would be a waste to close the curtains now. Ranvir let out a soft yawn looking over at her suitcase. She didn’t have the energy to unpack everything now. She was surprised at how much the journey had tired her out as she picked up her phone to text Susanna. 

_I think I might have something to eat in my room tonight. I’m tired after all that travelling. I hope you and the girls don’t mind if I don’t join you xxx_

_I think we’re all a bit knackered out from travelling! What’s your room like? Do you have a view of the ocean? I know Laura and Kate do x_

Ranvir fell back onto the comfy king sized bed and let out a sigh of relief. She honestly thought she could fall asleep right there without even bothering to get undressed or climbing into bed.

_It’s quite lovely and the views are beyond what I imagined xxx_

_I’ve already sent my boys a load of photos and got told off for the holiday spam already 😂_

She chuckled to herself as she reached over towards the bedside table and grabbed the room service menu. Opening it up and scanning the pages to see what was available. She was more thankful that it wasn’t in Italian as she probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce half of the words on there.

In the end, she went for a classic pasta dish with garlic bread on the side and a small glass of wine. Nothing too fancy as Ranvir preferred the simple things in life. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be looking at the all important headlines right now but work mode hadn’t really left her. For some reason her mind wandered to the man she caught a glimpse of earlier. Was he a member of staff or a guest? Ranvir didn’t know why she was asking herself those questions, it wasn’t any of her business regardless. The fact that he caught her looking and smiled at her made her blush for some reason. Ranvir felt a little stupid for jumping away the first second he glanced up at her. 

Ranvir finally restrained herself from looking at anymore work related stuff as a knock on the door made her jump out of her skin, indicating that her meal had finally arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the love on the first chapter! It means the world! You lot are the BEST ❤️❤️❤️


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> R & G's paths cross once again during breakfast along with some mild flirting 😌

Ranvir woke up early the next morning, she rolled over in the king size which she would call hers for the next few weeks. The sunlight was already beginning to stream through the curtains as she stretched herself out and kicked the duvet off her body. 

She definitely had a good night’s sleep feeling a lot fresher and ready to finally start this holiday. Her first instinct was to clamber out of bed and pull the curtains open. The sun was still rising in the distance but the morning Sicilian sky was so mesmerising. Ranvir stood and admired the enchanting views once again before eventually unzipping her suitcase, flipping it open. She still hadn’t unpacked yet and as it was still so early in the morning she thought now was the perfect time to do it. 

Her collection of summery dresses and a few jumpsuits had been hanged up neatly in the wardrobe just by the door. Then it came to the swimwear, something Ranvir struggled with the most since she wasn’t very comfortable with people seeing her so exposed. She picked out the swimsuit which covered her up the most but the plunging cleavage was her main worry.

_ Just chuck a t-shirt over it, Ranvir.  _

When she did get changed into more appropriate attire for the sunny weather, she couldn’t even bear to look at a full length mirror. Ranvir was dreading the weight gain from this holiday more than anything, you relax more and don’t care about how much or what you eat but she was going to be careful about how much food she’d consume. As a working single parent, Ranvir had zero time to take care of herself and she felt bad for letting herself gain a few pounds mainly due to stress and exhaustion. 

She grabbed her straw woven bag and threw in the factor thirty sun cream along with a magazine for herself to read through during the day as Ranvir wasn’t planning on having a dip in the pool, maybe in the sea but definitely not in the pool as she would feel uncomfortable with strangers looking at her. Ranvir looked down at her phone screen and realised it was almost nine o’clock and breakfast would be over in an hour. 

_ Shit shit shit shit.  _

Ranvir made sure she had everything with her including her room key, so she wouldn’t stupidly get locked out, and made her way downstairs to the lobby where Susanna and Kate were waiting patiently.

“Ah! Here she is!” Kate smiled once she saw Ranvir walk towards them.

“Where’s Charlotte and Laura?” she questioned, looking around the lobby for them. 

“I think they’ve gone to breakfast without us,” Susanna replied as all three of them strolled through the lobby and towards the main buffet restaurant.

Ranvir kept herself hidden behind Kate and Susanna, even though the both of them were in their fifties they looked beyond sensational whereas Ranvir felt like the unglamorous and unattractive friend of the group. The breakfast selection in the buffet looked divine; a mix of fresh fruits, pancakes, toast, yoghurts and even a proper full English breakfast with the selection of tea, coffee and different fresh fruit juices.

After what felt like forever wandering around having a look at everything, Ranvir opted for the fruit section. Her eyes wandered at the different fresh fruits which were so vibrant in colour but she stopped in her tracks looking at a selection of fruit she had never seen before in her life. One of the fruits that caught her eye resembled an apple but it definitely was not one.

“It’a a melograno,” a very  _ sensual  _ Italian spoke up from behind her. 

Ranvir almost jumped out of her skin as she turned around. No way. It was the man she saw last night and who she thought was  _ dishy.  _ No denying that he was even more handsome close up.

“Oh...what is one of those?” she questioned softly.

“A type of apple but I think you English people may know it better as a pomegranate,” he said as he reached over to grab a fresh green apple.

“I didn’t know you could grow them in Italy,” she answered, her eyes averting between the fruit and the handsome Italian man. 

He glanced over at her and smiled, it was more of a cheeky smile rather than a warm one. Picking the apple up and taking a bite out of it whilst looking at her. 

_ I just hope to god that he doesn’t recognise me from last night.  _

Why the fuck couldn’t she stop looking at him? He was a dreamboat but mind you probably all the ladies thought that when taking one look at him with their knees buckling straight afterwards. Ranvir randomly picked up several fruits and threw them into the bowl she was holding. She noticed from the corner of her eye that he was edging closer to her. What the fuck? 

“You have a very nice view from your hotel room...if you get what I mean,” he winked at her.

Ranvir felt her cheeks burning and they probably went bright red with embarrassment. Shit. He did recognise her. The Italian was just about to walk away from her when he turned back round.

“The name’s Giovanni Pernice, bella.” 

_ Giovanni Pernice.  _

He took one last charming smile at her before disappearing with the green apple in his hand. 

Oh my god. Ranvir suddenly went all fuzzy and light headed over her recent encounter with the rather flirtatious Italian. He couldn’t have possibly subtly flirted with her. 

_ He probably flirts with all the females he encounters.  _

Ranvir held that thought once she found her way to the table where Susanna and Kate were already tucking into their food. She pulled the chair out and sat down, staring down at her bowl of fruit. The encounter with  _ Giovanni  _ was still firmly on her mind. What the fuck did ‘bella’ even mean? It wasn’t until Ranvir pulled her phone out her bag and searched it up on Google when she realised what it meant.

_ Beautiful.  _

Beautiful in Italian. It almost made Ranvir want to laugh out loud in disbelief. She knew that the Italian’s were known for being extremely complimentary, there was no way he meant that truthfully. But her thought process was soon interrupted by Kate repeating her name for the fifth time.

“Ranvir? Are you alright? You seem very distracted,” she pointed out. 

“Stop looking at the headlines, Ranvir. You’re on holiday,” Susanna spoke up looking sternly at her. 

Ranvir put her phone back into a bag straight away in fear that Susanna would put her on a phone ban but she was not even looking at work related stuff. She had been discreetly looking through Giovanni’s profile on Instagram after finding it in her search. There was no denying that he was incredibly handsome but from looking at the comment sections, a lot of women drooled over the sight of him. Ranvir wasn’t surprised after seeing the amount of shirtless and posey pics he had uploaded. 

_ What a bloody show off.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I love writing AU fics! I'm thinking of doing a follow up to When I Kissed The Teacher...who knows what might happen 👀


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> R & G flirt a little more but this time through some serious eye contact 😏

“Oh my god!” Susanna gasped as the three ladies entered the outside world towards the pool area. “This is what I call paradise!” 

The sun was shining brightly and not a single cloud was visible in the sky, it was blue and completely clear. Ranvir tagged along behind Kate and Susanna as they nattered away over the plans they had to explore Sicily. The sight of the huge pool that looked quite fresh and inviting to jump in to maybe swing into her changing her mind about not wanting to swim in the pool full stop.

_ Maybe a little swim later on wouldn’t hurt.  _

Ranvir immediately stopped in her tracks after crossing the bridge that went over the pool, her eyes widened at the sight of a familiar face at the other end of the pool with a small group of people presumably teaching them how to dance. They Cuban like music was blaring out the speakers as the small group mirrored the dance moves he was doing.

It was  _ Giovanni.  _

Oh my god. Did he work here? Ranvir didn’t know how long she was standing there watching, but Giovanni spotted her in the distance and their eyes met. That cheeky and charming smile of his appeared once again. Ranvir definitely began to feel the blush creeping up from her neck to her cheeks. 

_ Why are you fucking blushing, Ranvir?  _

She didn’t realise that her feet had edged closer towards the edge of the pool just to get a closer look at him dancing. His hips rotated in such a perfect rhythm with the beat of the music. She was truly fascinated. God he did look good moving his hips in that way. 

“Ranvir? Why are you standing there looking like a lost child?” Susanna questioned with a small chuckle. 

Ranvir panicked and spun herself around to face her amused friend. By now, her cheeks were tinged bright red after her little eye contact session with Giovanni who was still looking at her with that small glimmer in his eyes.

“I...erm...I was just watching the dancing,” she struggled to find the words to explain why on earth she was standing by the edge of the pool watching the Italian who supposedly flirted with her earlier on teaching some of the hotel guests to dance. 

“Whatever,” Susanna scoffed, rolling her eyes. “He was totally checking you out. Look at him!” 

Ranvir chuckled nervously, her attention averting back to the Italian who for some reason made her feel rather hot under the collar. The intense heat of the Sicilian sunshine wasn’t exactly helping either with her baggy t-shirt already beginning to stick to her back. She needed to get into the shade soon before she melted literally on the spot. Ranvir quickly rushed away towards the sunbeds where Kate and Charlotte were sat, wiping the small beads of sweat away from her forehead. Christ what a morning so far. 

“Blimey, I’m not surprised you’re all sweaty with you dressed like that.” Charlotte said, looking up from reading her magazine through her large sunglasses. 

Ranvir slumped herself down on the sunbed that was in the shade, fanning herself down with her hand. It was hot and she was dressed up in a wrap around skirt with a split up the side of it and a baggy white t-shirt. Anything to keep her comfortable and to stop people from looking at her so called horrendous body. Picking up her oversized sunglasses, she leaned back against the sunbed whilst kicking off her flip flops but then realising she still had a fairly good view of Giovanni. 

_ For fuck sake stop drooling over someone you barely know.  _

“Okay, where the fuck is Laura?” Susanna questioned, looking around for her. 

“She’s probably gone down to the beach to study the weather pattern here or something. You know what she’s like,” Kate replied. 

Susanna sat down on the sunbed right next to Ranvir, immediately taking off her sundress and leaning back against the back of the sunbed. Thank god Ranvir had sunglasses on so the girls couldn’t call her out for spying on the Italian that had suddenly taken a liking to her. She pulled out one of her favourite books out of her straw woven bag to make it more convincing that she was actually doing something worthwhile. 

On the other side of the pool, Giovanni had just finished his first group dance class of the day teaching the basic steps of the Cha Cha Cha. Looking down at his schedule he was due to host a salsa class this afternoon at around three o’clock at the beach bar. He glanced over to his side and saw the woman he had met briefly this morning sat on the sunbed reading a book on the other side of the pool. Giovanni chuckled to himself knowing that she had definitely checked him out last night whilst she was up on the balcony but when he saw her this morning he thought she was a very attractive woman. 

_ She’s probably happily married with kids, Giovanni.  _

The Italian was tempted to get her attention and figure out whether she was single or not. It wasn’t like he was planning on bedding her or anything but a bit harmless flirting with the attractive lady wouldn’t do anyone any harm. Giovanni was secretly hoping in the back of his mind that she would go to the bar at some point so he could talk with her alone. He wasn’t planning on anything scandalous but he would like to get to know her better, just general chit chat in a way. 

After about an hour, Ranvir looked up from her book and saw that Giovanni had disappeared from her view. She looked down and checked her phone for the time before looking to the side at Susanna, Kate and Charlotte. All of them were immersed in either sunbathing or reading. Ranvir was in desperate need of a cup of tea and she hoped that they served it at the bar. 

“I’m just going to get a cup of tea. Do any of you want anything?” she asked, standing up from the sunbed. 

All three women shook their heads and went back to what they were doing leaving Ranvir strolling down the path towards the beach bar as it was the nearest. The beautiful view of the beach was just metres away from her as she walked over to the bar, perching herself down on the spinning stool. 

“Ciao! What can I get for you?” the barman asked very politely.

“Just a cup of tea please, lovely.” she replied with a smile. 

Little did she know that Giovanni was sitting on the other end of the bar, scrolling through his phone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will defo be FLIRT GALORE 👀


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> R & G do some major flirting at the beach bar 👀

Giovanni looked up from his phone discreetly when he heard a familiar voice speak out. It was her. She was sitting by herself just metres away so he decided to stand up and approach her. Now was the time to chat to her. 

Ranvir spotted him from the corner of her eye and immediately spun around on the stool, her eyebrows raised. 

“Are you stalking me, Giovanni?” 

“You remembered my name. I must have already had an effect on you,” he smirked as he perched himself down on the stool right next to hers.

Ranvir rolled her eyes in response before letting out a small chuckle, glancing to the side at him. He was rather cocky which she found particularly amusing. It made her question whether it was all Italians that were like that or just him in general. She smiled politely at the barman as he served her cup of tea down in front of her.

“Thank you my lovely,” she said, picking up the very posh looking cup and taking a sip of the freshly made tea. 

“I never got your name,” Giovanni said.

Once she had placed the cup back down on the bar top, she turned on the stool to face him properly. Why did he even want to know her name? Ranvir cocked up one eyebrow wondering why on earth he seemed so interested in her in the first bloody place. The man could’ve been lounging around with all the younger and more beautiful looking women but instead he was sitting next to her trying to make conversation.

_He’s only being nice, Ranvir. Stop overthinking everything._

“It’s Ranvir. Ranvir Singh.” 

“ _Ranvir._ ” he repeated with a smile on his face.

God it sounded so fucking good when he said her name with that damn Italian accent of his. Maybe he was only trying to make light conversation. After all, their paths had crossed twice already today. They were bound to start talking sooner or later. 

“Tell me, Giovanni,” she started, wanting to know more about the Italian who kept appearing everywhere she went. “Do you work here?” 

“Yes and no. I spend half of the year here in Sicily and the other in London,” he replied.

London? Oh christ. He might’ve seen her on Good Morning Britain at some point but even if he had, surely he would have mentioned it by now unless he didn’t want to make a huge fuss about it. Ranvir sat up curiously, crossing her leg over the other with the split of her wrap around skirt now showing off her slender legs. 

Giovanni’s eyes wandered down to have a little look. The split in her skirt stopped just near the top of her thigh and he took a sharp intake of breath. To say Ranvir was quite petite her legs looked like they went on for miles in Giovanni’s mind. Did she notice he was looking? He fucking hope she didn’t in a way. 

“It’s funny that because my work is based in London,” she replied.

“Oh really? Was is it that you do?” 

“I’m a journalist. I work on a show called Good Morning Britain as the political editor. You may have heard of it.” 

A journalist? Wow. Not only did Giovanni think she was incredibly attractive but she clearly carried a lot of intelligence as well. To have both beauty and brains was a gift in his eyes. In all honesty, Giovanni was only attracted to a woman’s beauty in the past before eventually getting bored as bad as it sounded in his mind. He wanted to have deep and meaningful conversations with someone and it looked like he might have found that in Ranvir. 

He shook his head in response despite hearing about the show, he had never even watched it in his five years of residing in London for the other half of the year. 

“I’ve heard of the show but never watched it but I might give it a go knowing you’ll be making an appearance.” 

Fucking hell that sounded so flirty when it came out of his mouth. It wasn’t intentional at all... _or was it?_

Ranvir raised her eyebrows once again at his obvious and not so subtle flirting. She was very tempted to ask him if he always flirted like this every time he came across a lady. In the end, she decided not to as she didn’t want to offend him in any way. 

“Tell me about yourself, Giovanni. I take it you dance because of what I witnessed earlier.” 

Giovanni clasped his hands together and smiled from ear to ear. So she was definitely watching him dance earlier then and not the other guests. 

“Italian Champion, darling! Along with being the world record holder for jive kicks and flicks and charleston swivels!” he boasted on.

Ranvir almost spat her tea out back into the cup. Wow. That was very impressive. No wonder he seemed so full of confidence with the amount of success he’s had. 

_I’m surprised he doesn’t hold a world record for the most sexy hip action on a man...no, Ranvir. Stop it!_

She didn’t even know why she was thinking those things. She hardly knew the man and not only did she think he was _dishy_ but thought he had very _sexy_ hip action as well. What the fuck was wrong with her? Ranvir was a mature woman, she should not be thinking about a younger man in that way but her thought process kept moving back to him. 

“That explains why you seem so...big headed,” she joked before cackling. 

Giovanni chuckled in response as a lot of people thought he was quite arrogant but he was so proud of his achievements sometimes he just couldn’t help but boast about them. 

“Are you here with your family?” 

_Why the fuck did you just ask her that, Giovanni?_

Ranvir shook her head as she finished off the last of her cup of tea, which tasted so delightful and had something so _different_ to it. She placed the empty cup back down on the bar top carefully. 

“Nope. I’m here with some friends. A girls holiday,” she chuckled. 

“Ahhh right! So I presume your husband is at home taking care of everything, yes?” 

_Giovanni, you idiot!_

Ranvir sighed a little at the fact that he thought she was married or at least had a partner. She was married once but it barely lasted a year after discovering her husband had been unfaithful to her since their ‘relationship’ began. As Ranvir grew older and matured, she realised that the whole marriage was a decoy to stop people questioning her why she wasn’t married or had children. After the divorce, she never saw or heard from him ever again and didn’t even bother with their son. _Her_ son. It brought back all those memories of feeling alone and unwanted throughout her pregnancy and afterwards, she felt like a disappointment to her own family as they became estranged for a couple of years before finally becoming close again mainly for Tushaan’s sake. Ranvir didn’t want him growing up in a toxic environment. 

“No husband,” she replied softly. “I’m flying solo.” 

Giovanni was a little taken aback. So she was single which meant maybe he could turn up the flirting charm a little bit. How was someone like her single? A beautiful woman who seemed really headstrong and independent had no partner...it baffled him. 

“So...you are single? Yes?” 

Ranvir immediately raised her eyebrows as his comment came out as quite flirty once again. He doesn’t hold back, does he? 

“Why? Do you want my number or something?” she laughed.

_Maybe I do…_

He thought quietly to himself. Giovanni was tempted to ask for her number so they could maybe _flirt_ some more over text. But would that scare her off though? He certainly didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable by doing so. 

“If you’re offering…” he trailed off looking down at his hands a little nervously. 

Ranvir reached inside her bag and tore some paper from the magazine she bought, fumbling around to find a pen that she had definitely packed in there somewhere. Eventually finding it, she quickly scribbled down her phone number for him. There was no harm in it, surely? They were both single...well, Ranvir presumed he was single otherwise he wouldn’t have joked about wanting her number in the first place. She slowly slid the piece of paper across the bar towards him before standing up. 

“Drop me a text at any time,” she said before beginning to walk off, throwing her bag over her shoulder. 

Giovanni smiled down at the piece of paper. He really couldn’t believe his luck after thinking she would most definitely reject him. 

“Ranvir! Wait!” he called after her, shooting up from the stool he was sitting on. 

Ranvir stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him. 

“I’m doing a salsa class this afternoon at three o’clock...right here. Fancy coming along?” 

She thought about it for a few seconds. Ranvir wanted to say yes but she couldn’t dance to save her own life, she basically had two left feet. Another reason was that she would feel slightly embarrassed due to her lack of confidence trying out new things and her self consciousness stood in the way too. 

“I’m afraid I can’t dance...I have two left feet. Literally…” Ranvir felt her cheeks go red from embarrassment.

Giovanni took a few steps closer to her so they were only metres apart from one another. He really wanted her to come along but his excuse was just so he could flirt with her more whilst teaching. 

“I can teach you. I’m a very good teacher, you see…” he stepped even closer to her. 

_Dangerously close._

Ranvir’s eyes slowly glanced back up at him, noticing how close he came to her in the process. Her heart immediately started racing inside her chest, the loud thumping noise was all to be heard between them along with her almost shallow breathing. Oh god, what was happening? 

“Hmmmm. Are you though?” she teased him with a whisper. 

“Oh yes. Very good,” a little smirk began to appear from the corner of his lips. 

For some reason, her eyes quickly flickered down to his lips before looking back up at his eyes. His lips did look rather delicious. There was no lying about that and that _smirk._ Ranvir took a step back with a little smile on her face considering maybe saying yes to his offer.

“I’ll see you here at three then,” she said before turning her body round and walking off into the distance down the footpath. 

Giovanni watched her as she strolled back towards her group of friends. He smiled to himself. 

_Good going, Giovanni._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters will just be them FLIRTING non stop hehehe 😌


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Salsa class time and we see a glimpse of soft G 👀

Lunchtime came around very quickly once Ranvir had arrived back to the sunbeds to find that Susanna had now disappeared somewhere. She raised her eyebrows in confusion as she perched herself down on the end of the sunbed. 

“Where’s Susanna?” she asked, looking over at Kate and Charlotte. 

Charlotte sat up from her sunbed and removed her sunglasses, her finger pointing over towards the bridge. There Susanna stood leaning against the pristine wood of the bridge chatting and giggling away to some man. Ranvir perched herself up more to really see what was going on. 

“This guy walked past us and basically eyed up Susanna,” Kate spoke up. 

Ranvir let out a small cackle. Good for Susanna. She was overdue for a new man in her life after splitting up with her ex almost two years ago which all ended in tears. Even if it was to be just a little fling at least there would be some happiness there. It definitely gave Ranvir food for thought, she would like to enter another relationship but she had been single for the last eight years. Was she ready to go through all that heartbreak again if it didn’t work out? Then her mind instantly went to Giovanni. Despite his slightly cocky personality and rather flirtatious approach towards her, he seemed like a nice enough guy to be just  _ friends  _ with. 

“Don’t be surprised if they end up making out by tonight,” Charlotte joked.

All three ladies were all sat immersed with the interaction between Susanna and this mysterious guy until she came walking back over looking all smug with herself. Kate and Charlotte quickly went back to what they were doing, making it out that they weren’t spying at all. 

“Ahhh Ranvir! You’re back,” she smiled, sitting down on the sunbed. “It seems that you and that rather hunky looking Italian were getting well acquainted.” 

Ranvir was so thankful that she wasn’t directly facing Susanna otherwise the deep blush across her cheeks would be talked about non stop. Oh shit. The girls must’ve seen her and Giovanni get quite close at the bar. Fuck sake. How would she even explain herself? What excuse would she have for Giovanni to end up so close to her that anyone would think they were about to kiss? Ranvir instead shrugged in response. 

“He’s quite a cocky bastard actually,” she replied back straight away to give the impression that she wasn’t too keen on him.

Susanna scoffed in disbelief whilst rolling her eyes, “must be some cocky bastard for you two to end up flirting with each other.” 

Ranvir immediately spun herself around straight away, taking off her sunglasses to glare sternly at her closest friend. Ugh god she wanted to fight back with her words to convince her that they were nothing more than just acquaintances who happen to keep bumping into each other. 

“We weren’t flirting, actually.” 

Susanna let out the most sarcastic and unconvincing laugh Ranvir thought she had ever heard. What need was there for that? Ranvir slumped herself back against the sunbed, folding her arms like a stroppy child. God forbid if any of this found its way back to Piers otherwise she would definitely not hear the end of it for the rest of time. Ranvir looked down and checked her watch, it was only half past twelve after midday. Three o’clock could not come bloody quicker enough. 

Finally three o’clock came about, well really it was ten minutes to three but Ranvir wanted to get there a little early so she could grab a cocktail. Non-alcoholic of course as she was not a big drinker. Just before Ranvir was about to attempt to sneak off back to the beach bar without any of the girls questioning it, Laura had returned from a day spent on the beach. 

“Where the fuck have you been all day?” Susanna questioned whilst looking up from her phone. “We thought you’d been kidnapped.” 

Laura tipped her bag upside down and a haul of seashells and small pieces of rocks fell out of her bag and onto the empty sunbed. She had spent the day walking along the beach collecting anything she could find to take back home with her. 

“I didn’t see any of you coming to find me,” she replied, fumbling through all the different shells she had collected and examined every single one of them closely.

Nobody had even noticed Ranvir sneaking off towards the beach bar where she caught a glimpse of Giovanni preparing the music for the salsa lesson. Her first task was to try one of those non alcoholic cocktails which looked very appealing. Ranvir leaned against the bar as she waited for the barman to take her order when she felt a body sneak up behind her.

“Can’t keep away from me, huh?” 

Oh she recognised that Italian accent from anywhere. Ranvir chuckled to herself as she spun herself round to be met by a smiling Giovanni. He looked genuinely happy that she had kept her promise and came to the salsa class. But Ranvir had no intention of joining in…

“Oh. So now I’m the stalker?” she joked with a smile. 

Giovanni firmly took hold of her hands and slowly pulled her towards the large space that had been created a few metres away from the bar. The tables and chairs had been moved away so there was enough space for people to join in. Ranvir raised her eyebrows at him, clearly confused by his current actions. The first thing that caught Giovanni’s attention was how small her hands fitted in his and the softness of her bare skin. 

“I know you have never danced before but I promise you by the end of this...I will have turned those two left feet into dancing feet.” 

Ranvir barked out a laugh in response. She felt more comfortable sitting and watching the lesson but Giovanni seemed persuasive enough to make her change her mind. 

Three o’clock hit and quite a few people had arrived at the beach bar. Ranvir discreetly moved herself right to the back of the small crowd, edging closer towards the bar again. She was hoping that Giovanni wouldn’t notice her sneaking away but unfortunately, she was unable to escape from his beady eye. Giovanni’s hand gripped onto hers, pulling her back towards the crowd again. 

_ Time to embarrass yourself, Ranvir.  _

A wave of anxiety and self consciousness soon hit her, fiddling with the hem of her baggy white t-shirt as Giovanni started the lesson. She wasn’t even paying him any attention, she was more worried about people looking at her when performing these dance moves. She suddenly felt extremely exposed. Oh god. Her hands began trembling and the palm of her hands already had a thin layer of sweat covering them. 

_ Stay calm, Ranvir. Deep breaths.  _

From the corner of his eyes Giovanni could clearly see that Ranvir looked completely out of her comfort zone. The other guests were doing well with the basic salsa steps so he moved his focus onto Ranvir.

“Ranvir, look at me. Ignore what everyone else is doing and just look at me,” he spoke ever so softly. 

Ranvir’s eyes averted their focus onto him and only him. The softness in his eyes and voice was enough to lull her away from the anxiety she was feeling. Giovanni took hold of both of her hands, not even taking his eyes off of her. He felt so guilty for putting her in this position if he had known that it would make her feel like this, it was now his priority to boost some confidence into her. 

“I’m going to go through the basic steps with you. I’ll demonstrate and then we’ll go through it together. Okay?” he explained.

Ranvir nodded her head in response. Feeling her body relax a little more as Giovanni took a small step back, letting go of her hands momentarily. 

“So, you start with both feet together. Step forward with your left foot, shift your weight to your right foot, step backwards with your left foot and then pause.” 

Giovanni demonstrated slowly so Ranvir could take in all the steps each one at a time. Really he should be teaching the whole group but he left them to their own devices and focussed on her instead which seemed rather odd to her. 

“Are you with me so far or would you like me to go through it again?” he asked.

“I think I’ve got it...but I'll let you be the judge of that,” she chuckled nervously in response.

“Now for the second section we reverse the actions and use your right foot. Step backwards with your right foot, shift your weight, step forward and then pause.” 

Well he was a very good teacher so far but now the time came for Ranvir to try it out. Giovanni took hold of her hands again and counted her in, slowly going through the steps together as he talked her through it. Ranvir was starting to feel the effects of it all as the hip action came into it. Giovanni stopped and spoke again. 

“Wow! That was...incredible. Now, lets try it a little faster this time,” a warm expression appeared from the corner of his lips.

They went through the steps again but with more speed added this time. Ranvir kept looking down at her feet to make sure she was doing the steps right. Giovanni carefully lifted her jaw up with his fingers, their eyes meeting and his smile grew even wider. To say she had never even danced before, she was a total natural. Ranvir’s gaze never left his once as they continued the steps together. She had no clue how she was doing it so naturally but she was doing it to perfection. 

“Well done!” he beamed with genuine pride. 

Ranvir felt more uplifted after doing that but she began to feel a very unfamiliar feeling right in the pit of her stomach. She had no clue what it was but she decided to put it down to Giovanni uplifting her confidence a little bit. 

Soon the salsa lesson came to an end and most of the guests had thanked Giovanni and dispersed. Ranvir found her way to the bar for a much needed drink. The afternoon had been a little bit overwhelming for her but Giovanni got her through that lesson. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she thought he was. Ranvir ordered herself a small non-alcoholic cocktail as it was coming round to the time where people were heading back to their rooms to get ready for the evening. She took a small sip of the Almost Aperol Spritz mocktail, it was mildly refreshing with a kick of bright citrus and a little bitterness to follow. 

Ranvir nodded her head in approval as she put the glass down on the bar top, not noticing that Susanna had found her sat at the bar. 

“There you are!” she beamed, sitting down on the stool next to her. “I feel like I’ve hardly seen you all day.” 

“I guess I’ve been taking some time for myself,” she replied with a little smile.

Susanna nodded in response, removing her sunglasses from her face. 

“It’s good that you’re doing that. This holiday isn’t about all of us hanging out the whole time. We can do our separate things as well like Laura has done.” 

“I feel a lot more relaxed but I still feel like I can’t let myself go…” Ranvir trailed off from what she was saying, basically she was too scared to admit that she was terrified of people seeing her body in swimsuits and any tight fitting outfits she had. 

“I know what you mean, Ranvir. I know how self conscious you are and you don’t even realise how bloody stunning you are! You’ve always had a gorgeous figure and I think it’s about time you gave up all these clothes that cover you up and show yourself off! It’s about learning to love yourself, Ranvir because if you don’t love yourself then how the hell are you going to love anyone else without accepting your own worth first. Just have a little think about it,” Susanna spoke truthfully and honestly towards her friend.

Ranvir looked down at her cocktail drink that was now half drunk, she picked up the glass and gulped down the rest of it in one go. Susanna’s words would definitely give her something to think about over the next two or three hours. 

“Shall we head off? It’s going to take me ages to get ready,” Susanna chuckled as she stood up from the stool.

“You go ahead. I’ll catch up with you. I just need to do something first.” 

Susanna nodded and began making her way from the beach bar and back down the footpath. Ranvir waited until she was a distance away before finding her way to Giovanni, who was sitting drinking water from a bottle.

“I just wanted to say thank you for this afternoon,” she said softly.

Giovanni placed the bottle of water down on the table and stood up from the chair, taking a few steps forward. 

“No need to thank me, darling. You were sensational. So, now do you believe that I’m a good teacher?” he asked with a hint of a flirtatious tone in his voice.

“I hate to admit it but...yes.” 

Giovanni smiled. He’ll definitely take that answer as a serious compliment. 

“Will I see you at the amphitheatre tonight for the show?” he blurted out without a second thought. 

_ She’s gonna think you’re a stalker, Giovanni.  _

“Of course. I’ll be sure to look out for you,” she replied before stepping forward and kissed his cheek firmly.

Giovanni’s cheeks suddenly went the colour of a pink rose, he thought his cheeks were literally on fire as Ranvir gave him a warm smile before walking away to catch up with Susanna. 

_ What the fuck just happened? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The flirt fest continues in the next chapter 😌


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> R dresses to impress on the first night...and definitely turns G's head 👀

Ranvir spent ages deciding what to wear as she thought about what Susanna had said to her earlier on at the beach bar. Maybe she did need to let herself go for once and show off everything she’s got. Then her mind averted straight back to Giovanni and how much he took care of her whilst performing those basic salsa steps she was so terrified to do. For some reason it made her heart swell that she had seen a glimmer of the softer side of him already. Ranvir knew deep down that he was a genuinely nice guy but comes off as a little boasty and cocky when you first meet him. 

A heavy sigh escaped from her lips, staring down at all the outfits she had placed out on the bed. Ranvir fiddled with the end of the hotel dressing gown rope whilst her mind was conflicted with going for something that covered her up or going all out attempting to be sexy. 

Ranvir had already done her hair and makeup as soon as she got out of the shower. She went with a simple beach wave for her hair and gave it a little bit of volume with some hairspray added to it. Her makeup wasn’t over the top but she went for a green eyeshadow that really brought out her beautiful dark brown eyes, a simple blush which gave her cheeks a tinge of pink with a nude type of colour lipstick. 

A knock on the door made Ranvir jump as she spun her body around to answer the door. She opened the door slightly at first and poked her head through the gap to check who it was. It was only Susanna. She was already dressed up and ready to go in a figure hugging red dress and matching heels. Of course Susanna looked stunning in everything she wore.

Ranvir pulled open the door more but Susanna’s face dropped when she noticed that Ranvir wasn’t even ready. 

“It’s almost half past six and you’re still not ready?” she questioned with her eyebrows raised.

“I don’t know what to put on...you go on without me. I’ll be down when I’m ready,” Ranvir was about to close the door when Susanna barged past her and entered her hotel room, throwing her red clutch bag onto the bed.

“Susanna!” she gasped, quickly closing the door and joining her standing next to the bed. “You can’t just barge your way into my room like that!”

Susanna’s eyes scanned the items of clothing that Ranvir had laid out on the bed. A few jumpsuits and a couple of dresses but one particular dress caught her eye. It was a dark green long flowy dress with a v-shaped plunging neckline and a split up the left side of the dress. She immediately picked it up and showed Ranvir. 

“This one!” she smiled widely.

Ranvir’s eyes widened. No way she was wearing that. Not in a million years. Susanna and the other girls would get away with wearing it because they all have amazing figures but not Ranvir. She shook her head in response and Susanna frowned at her reaction. 

“Come on, Ranvir! It’ll look so hot on you! Imagine all the men having their heads turned by you,” she winked, still holding up the dress.

She didn’t really want to imagine the men ‘drooling’ over the sight of her, she would rather stay invisible to everyone. Ranvir had thought about ditching going with the girls all together and staying locked away in her hotel room all night where no one could see her but she would have to come out of her shell eventually. 

_ Oh to hell with it, Ranvir! You’re on holiday! Stop being so stupid and go for it!  _

Ranvir took the dress from Susanna and disappeared into the bathroom to put it on whilst Susanna went through her suitcase to find a nice pair of heels. Eventually she found some black stilettos which would look perfect with the whole look. She sat herself down on the bed and waited patiently for Ranvir, her head snapped up when the bathroom door opened and out she came.

The dress looked absolutely sensational on her, it fitted her figure perfectly and the split up the left side gave a little show of her slender legs. The best part was the plunging neckline, it definitely showed off some lovely cleavage show. Susanna nodded respectfully in approval.

“Do I look okay?” Ranvir asked a little nervously. 

She hadn’t even looked at herself in the mirror yet and she wasn’t sure if she was able to handle that. Her eyes saw the pair of black stilettos on the floor and bent down to put to them on her feet. 

“Ranvir Singh...you are one fucking hot mama!” Susanna stood up from the bed, reaching over to grab her red clutch bag. “Shall we head off?” 

Ranvir nodded and quickly threw her phone, a little flip mirror and her lipstick just in case she needed a top up at some point and threw them into her bag. They left her hotel room together arm in arm making their way down to the lobby together. Ranvir took a couple of nervous and shaky deep breaths as the lift doors opened to the lobby.

Laura was the first person to spot them but her jaw almost hit the floor when she saw Ranvir looking absolutely stunning. Like she had just stepped out of a big budget Hollywood movie. 

“Oh my god, Ranvir!” she gasped excitedly. “Look at you!” 

Kate and Charlotte looked up as well, almost in shock over how different Ranvir looked. Now they were the ones who felt slightly under dressed in their outfits. Both of them had opted for a more summery dress look. 

“I feel like getting changed just to match up to your standards,” Charlotte joked.

“Who are you and what have you done with Ranvir Singh?” 

For a moment, Kate didn’t believe it was Ranvir as she looked so different. Nobody really saw the glamorous side of her. It was a very rare occurrence and tonight was one of them. Ranvir chuckled softly, feeling a little less self conscious now after seeing her friend's reaction to her little makeover. It was a great way to start their first official night on holiday as all five ladies walked to the restaurant together. Ranvir felt a lot more powerful, whether it was the dress or the black stilettos she didn’t have a clue. 

As they entered the restaurant, Ranvir’s eyes scanned around the busy room for Giovanni. She couldn’t see him anywhere so far whilst she followed the girls to an empty table and sat down on the comfortable chairs. Ranvir wondered why the fuck she was so bothered about Giovanni being here, they were just became friends,  _ who flirted _ , and for some reason her mind kept springing back to him. 

The evening slowly went on and there was still no sign of him. Where the fuck was he? Maybe he had been here already and left before she arrived. Ranvir only ate probably a quarter of her meal, she spent ages wandering around the buffet looking for something decent to eat and found amalfi-style fish soup. It had been homemade by the cooks and she swore she had never tasted anything so delicious in her entire life. 

“Why do you keep looking over at the doors?” Laura had caught Ranvir looking over at the same direction ever since they had sat down. It looked a little bit suspicious. 

“Just having a little nosy at people,” she replied, averting her attention back onto her meal. 

“So you  _ weren’t  _ looking for me then?” an Italian accent spoke out from behind her.

Ranvir almost choked on her soup, grabbing the napkin and coughing into the fabric. Jesus fucking christ. She twisted her body round and saw Giovanni chuckling away to himself. His hair was gelled back and he was wearing a smart white shirt with even smarter black trousers. He did look very  _ good  _ tonight.

“Giovanni! Hi...I’m so sorry I didn’t even notice you standing there.” 

“I thought I would come over and say hello,” he replied whilst his eyes wandered up and down the rather revealing and delicious dress she had chosen to wear for the evening. 

_ My god...she looks so beautiful and very sexy… _

Thank god Ranvir didn’t catch him eyeing her up otherwise he wouldn’t have an excuse to make up. He was only human after all. He couldn’t help it if he found the woman so goddamn attractive. Giovanni felt a little bad for interrupting her meal with her friends but something within him felt like he had to go over there and see her. 

“I’ll see you later? Yes? I’m sorry for interrupting your meal,” he said sincerely. 

Ranvir could sense the girls smirking and whispering to one another. She had this urge to leave with him wherever he was going to go before realising that it would look a little weird...and people would talk.

“Actually…” she blurted out before carrying on, “I’m not too keen on dessert so I might head off only if you don’t mind me tagging along with you, Giovanni?” 

His eyes instantly lit up by her response as though it was like she could read his mind. Giovanni nodded with a wider smile. Was she really going to ditch her friends to hang around with him for however long? Ranvir stood up from her chair and grabbed her bag, hanging it over her right shoulder. 

“I hope you ladies don’t mind me stealing Ranvir off you for a little bit.” 

The four of them shook their heads in response. Susanna tried so hard to keep that smirk of hers to herself and not make it too obvious what she was thinking. 

“Steal her for as long as you wish...but please bring her back in one piece,” Susanna said rather smugly, earning a nudge in the arm by Kate.

“I promise to bring her back to you in one piece,” he smiled as they both walked off together and out of the restaurant. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy you're all enjoying this fic! Thank so much for all comments and the love! ❤️  
> The next chapter things escalate just a tiny bit 😌


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> R & G watch the sunset together, touchy feely moments and G walks his special lady back to her hotel room 👀

They took a slow stroll through the lobby together as neither of them knew where they wanted to go or what to do. Then Giovanni had the idea of just walking around the hotel grounds until around eight thirty, which was when tonight’s show starts at the hotel’s amphitheatre. It was still pretty light outside and the sun didn’t usually set until around half sevenish. 

_ Maybe take her to the beach and walk along the pier together. _

“I want to show you the pier on the beach,” he said, glancing to the side at her.

“Then whisk me away there, Mr Pernice.”

Giovanni smiled warmly, offering his arm to her so she wouldn’t end up falling over in those very nice black stilettos of hers. Ranvir hesitated for a mere few seconds and slipped her arm through his. What a gentleman. 

“Quite the gentleman, aren’t you?” she pointed out as they walked outside into the warm breeze.

It had cooled down a lot since a few hours ago but there was still that hint of warm breeze floating around in the air. Ranvir glanced up at the sky, it was a beautiful colour of red with a mix of orange, a sign that the sun was about to set. She was enchanted by the beautiful set of colours and tones in the sky. 

“Sometimes but only towards beautiful ladies like yourself.” 

Ranvir blushed at his comment. He thought she was beautiful? He must be having her on. Ranvir never even considered herself to be average looking nevermind attractive or beautiful. It just seemed impossible for a man to look at her in that way and possibly think that. 

_ Maybe it was the hair and makeup?  _

But then again, Giovanni had already seen her today wearing absolutely no makeup whatsoever and wearing her signature baggy clothes. It seemed laughable now after thinking about it. There was no way in a million years that someone like Giovanni would ever fancy her. 

“Do you mean that or are you having me on?” she questioned softly as they approached the beach, the sound of the waves gradually getting louder with every step closer they took.

“It’s the truth,” he spoke softly in response. “You are stunning.” 

_ Don’t blush again, Ranvir. Don’t blush.  _

Instead, Ranvir rolled her eyes jokingly and giggled in response as they walked up onto the pier. She gripped onto his arm a little more just for some support as the pier wasn’t exactly the best ground to walk on when you’re wearing high heels. Her dress blew around her as the warm breeze hit them walking further across the pier. There was a very comfortable silence between them both as they reached the end of the pier, enjoying the surroundings and the most beautiful view of the sunset Ranvir had ever seen in her life. 

“Wow…” she breathed in awe.

Giovanni watched her as she was in absolute awe of the Sicilian sunset right in front of them. It was like she was completely starstruck by the sight of it. He noticed that her skin glowed in the golden sunlight which made her look even more beautiful. 

“Is this view better than the one you saw last night?” he asked with a cheeky laugh. 

“Maybe. I guess you’ll never know,” she let out a small giggle, looking to her side at him.

All of this already felt so natural between them, no awkward silence or forcing a conversation between them. It was like they had known each other for years. But why did it feel completely natural between them though? They haven’t even known each other for a whole day and here they were standing on the end of the pier watching the sunset together. 

“Maybe, huh? If you let me get you a drink from the bar tonight, would you consider changing your mind?” 

Giovanni stepped even closer to her, watching her soft locks of wavy hair blowing in the breeze. There was something so different about Ranvir compared to other women he had romanced in the past...not that he was intending to romance her but obviously the flirting between them was a mutual thing. 

“We’ll just have to wait and see won’t we, Mr Pernice?” 

By now her body had completely turned so she was now facing him fully, away from the sunset. Their eyes met in a gaze and the one question that hovered in the back of Ranvir’s mind was; 

_ What is happening? Why is this happening? You barely know the man, Ranvir.  _

Ranvir put an end to their little gazing into each other's eyes session and decided it was time to make their way back to the hotel. Giovanni looked slightly disappointed but he tried to hide it the best he could. Instead they took a slow stroll towards the amphitheatre, arm in arm obviously, the sky had darkened a lot since their little walk to the beach. The sound of crickets chirping away in the beautifully cut hedges. For some reason Ranvir enjoyed the cricket noises and she found it quite relaxing to put it correctly. 

They knew they were edging closer to the amphitheatre as the echoes of the music gradually became louder and the flock of people making their way there. 

“What kind of shows do they put on here?” she questioned.

“All sorts. Gymnastic acts, we have an amazing circus act, dance shows which I participate in, and I know this isn’t a show but we hold cocktail parties every couple of weeks,” he explained to her. 

Ranvir secretly hoped that she would be able to watch him in action in a dance show at some point. Watching Giovanni dance would definitely be one of the highlights of her holiday. She held that thought in process once they had arrived at the amphitheatre. A lot of the spaces had already been taken up but out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Kate, Laura, Charlotte and Susanna sitting right at the top. 

“Ranvir!” Laura called over as loud as she could over the music. “Up here! We have a wall to lean back against!” 

“Let me help you up the steps,” he said, offering his hand to her. 

Ranvir immediately took hold of his hand, which felt so warm and inviting against her own skin, whilst helping her walk up the steps. Stopping each time to make sure that she wouldn’t fall over until they reached the top.

Susanna lent to the side towards Kate.

“Did you see that? The way he helped her up the steps?” she spoke quietly but still loud enough so Kate could make out what she was saying. 

“Oh I know! What a gentleman,” Kate replied with a smile on her face as Ranvir and Giovanni approached them.

“Hiya girls!” she greeted them with the cheeriest smile, not even realising that she was still holding onto Giovanni’s hand.

“Where did you guys even go?” Charlotte asked curiously. 

All four of them wanted all the juicy details on where Ranvir had disappeared to with Giovanni but they all knew she would keep pretty tight lipped about it to avoid any teasing being involved. Ranvir perched herself down on the bench like seats with Giovanni sitting down beside her...rather closely sat together. 

“For a walk,” she replied rather coyly, literally not giving any details away. “Giovanni wanted to show me more of the hotel grounds.”

“I’m sure he did...” Susanna muffled hearing Kate sniggering with her hand over her mouth next to her.

“I don’t want to make things weird but you two would make a cute couple,” Laura teased them quite excitedly. 

Thank fucking god it was dark where they were sat so they couldn’t see Ranvir’s cheeks burning crimson red. Did Laura really think that? A cute  _ couple _ ? No way! They were just friends as Ranvir kept reminding herself of that. It was only her first full day here after all, it would be a bit hectic to jump into a romance that quickly. 

Somehow Giovanni’s hand had found its way onto her bare knee, where the split in her dress was. Her skin felt like it was on fire against his touch as his thumb slowly caressed her soft and lushess skin. Ranvir wondered why the fuck she was letting him doing this but it was quite comforting. This was another reason why she was thankful it was dark. 

Tonight the entertainment was gymnastics and acrobatic dancing, performed by some of the best in the world or their country. Ranvir was truly transfixed by the whole thing, the way they used their bodies in order to create such beautiful shapes and use unique choreography. Giovanni’s hand didn’t move once from her knee for the rest of the night but instead moved a little further up her leg as time went by. Ranvir almost trembled each time his hand moved. 

Was he doing that deliberately or was it just happening naturally? She thought in the back of her mind. What he was doing was so daring it was almost scandalous in anybody’s eyes. Ranvir had a reputation to live up to since she was living in the public eye but managed to keep a lot of her life private and out of the spotlight over the years. 

Giovanni’s eyes glanced over at Ranvir whilst she wasn’t looking but instead her full attention was on the acrobatic dancing. He soon realised that despite only knowing each other for such a short amount of time he had developed a sort of attraction to her. He watched as her lips parted and her tongue slowly ran across her bottom lip. 

_ Fucking hell. _

He gulped. 

At this point, Giovanni wasn’t even watching the show full stop. His attention was completely averted to Ranvir and Ranvir only. He would quickly look away every time she leaned against him to talk to him. The show came to an end and the whole amphitheatre erupted in applause, Ranvir stood up and clapped to show her appreciation. Once the atmosphere had died down a little bit people began to disperse and make their way down back to the beach bar where there was to be live music. 

Like before, Giovanni offered his hand and helped her down the steps right to the bottom. Ranvir didn’t even need to ask him for some support, he gave it to her pretty much straight away.

“I’m going to catch up with some old friends,” he said, letting go of her hand. “I’ll catch up with you.” 

Ranvir nodded before walking back towards the double doors which lead straight into the hotel. Her black stiletto heels were beginning to take their toll on her feet as she winced a little from the sharpness of the pain shooting through her feet. She leaned against the wall once stepping back inside and kicked off the heels, bending down to pick them up. 

“Are you coming down to the bar?” Susanna asked. 

“I might head back up to the room. I want to facetime Tushaan before I go to bed,” she replied, pressing the button for the lift.

Susanna nodded before leaving to catch up with Kate, Charlotte and Laura. Ranvir was left standing by the lift, she looked up and saw that it was stuck on the fourth floor. Out of frustration she pressed the button again, not that it was going to make any difference regardless. 

“Come on, for fuck sake,” she huffed under her breath. 

Her foot was now tapping against the cold marble flooring. Why the fuck was the lift taking so long? All she wanted to do was go back to her hotel room, call her son and chat to him but instead she was stuck waiting for a bleeding lift. Ranvir looked up again and saw that it had moved down to the third floor. Some progress but not enough to clear the mountain of frustration. 

“These lifts are a bastard,” A voice spoke from next to her. “You might be waiting a while.”

Ranvir glanced to her side and saw Giovanni leaning against the wall right next to the lift doors. Well his comment was certainly downright reassuring. 

“Great. Fucking great,” she huffed once more. 

“Let me walk you back to your room?” he spoke softly to break any frustration she was clearly feeling.

Walk her back to her hotel room? Now that certainly was scandalous. Ranvir had an inkling that she wouldn’t be shaking him off anytime soon as it seemed that everywhere she went, he was  _ there _ . She had a good think about it, the girls had all gone down to the bar for a few drinks and there was no chance of them coming back anytime soon. There was no one else around to suggest they knew her otherwise...maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It wasn’t like she was going to invite him in or anything.

“Alright then,” she replied. “If you insist.” 

Just as Giovanni was about to answer, the lift had finally arrived on the ground floor. The doors opened and of course he let Ranvir step in first and himself straight after. Her thumb immediately pressed the button for the fourth floor, which she was staying on and the soon the doors closed. Ranvir looked out the window of the lift which stretched from the top to the bottom and had a lovely view of the hotel complex outside. 

“I thought you’d be having drinks with your friends.” 

“Not tonight. I’m feeling a little tired so I’m going to get an early night.” 

The lift arrived on the fourth floor and the doors opened, both of them walking out together. Their hands brushed against each other several times whilst walking down the hallway eventually arriving at Ranvir’s hotel room. His eyes averted to the room number.

_ 415 _

He quickly made a mental note of it in the back of his mind before looking back down at her. 

“Thank you for walking me back here,” she said softly, her hand fumbling around inside her bag for her room key. 

“I just wanted to make sure you got back safely,” he replied with a soft smile.

Ranvir found herself chuckling away in response. It was a hotel. There was a very small chance she was going to be kidnapped or something but she really appreciated his gentlemanly gesture. 

“Well goodnight, Mr Pernice.”

She stepped forward and pushed herself up onto her tiptoes, her lips pressing softly against the skin of his warm cheek. Her lips may have lingered there for longer than they should have as she moved herself away slowly. Ranvir felt his eyes burning into hers. The chemistry was so obvious now between them, Giovanni could sense it...the  _ connection _ . 

“Goodnight, Miss Singh.” he replied barely above a whisper.

Ranvir gave him a warm smile as she slid her key card into the slot and opened the door, they looked at one another one last time before the door closed firmly. Giovanni stayed in the same spot for a little while, a fistful of thoughts racing through his mind before finally deciding to make his way back down the corridor. 

Ranvir collapsed straight back onto her king sized bed, her eyes closing as she pondered her way through all the events that had happened today. 

_ What a first day.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are gonna start hotting up a bit so stay tuned 😌


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> R & G have some fun in the indoor pool 😌

The next morning had been spent lounging around on the sunbeds watching as the world went by. Ranvir managed to facetime Tushaan earlier in the morning as she completely forgot about the time difference the night before. The chat lasted at least an hour or so, her face lit up once she saw her son’s face even though it was through a phone screen. 

“I hope you’re being a good boy for grandma and your auntie,” she said to him, her eyes squinting a little from the intensity of the Sicilian sunshine.

“Of course I’m being good, mum. I miss you,” he spoke softly.

“I miss you too, sweetheart. Speak to you again at the same time tomorrow?” 

Tushaan nodded and smiled so admiringly at his mother who was his biggest inspiration and his best friend since the day he was brought into the world. But what Tushaan wanted more than anything in the world was for his mum to be happy with someone and for himself to have a father figure in his life.

“I’ve got to go now, mum. We’re just about to take Shmizzels out for a walk.” 

Ranvir felt her heart sink almost in an instant. She shouldn’t be feeling sad but this was the longest period of time she’ll be away from her son and it didn’t sit right with her. She knew Tushaan would be okay and happy in the care of her mum and sister but they had the closest relationship with one another. 

“Okay, sweetheart. Give Shmizzels a kiss from me? I love you.” 

“I will! I love you too, mum.” 

Tushaan waved goodbye and blew her a little kiss before disappearing from her phone screen. Oh god how she missed him jumping up and down on her bed in the morning demanding that he must have pancakes for breakfast. Ranvir just missed his presence in general, especially when it has only been the two of them for the last eight years. It wouldn’t be long before he would be all grown up and leave home...then what will she do? 

Ranvir shook off all those thoughts and looked around the pool. There had been no sign of Giovanni at all this morning and she began to wonder where on earth he was. It wasn’t like that she missed seeing him or anything. They were just friends. Ranvir went straight onto her contacts and scrolled down, tapping on Giovanni’s name. Ever since she gave him her number they had been texting a lot despite almost bumping into each other all the time. Ranvir began typing out her message.

_I’ve hardly seen you at all today xxx_

Her thumb pressed send and kept checking the screen waiting for his reply. A few moments later, a message popped up on the screen.

**Missing me already? 😏**

_As if! 😝_

**You are. Otherwise you wouldn’t have texted me to ask where I am 😌**

Ranvir rolled her eyes. She didn’t miss him at all. What a silly thing to even suggest. 

_Don’t kid yourself, Pernice. Not everyone likes a cocky bastard 😉_

**Everyone but you 😏**

She raised her eyebrows over his reply. What a cheeky bastard he was. For some reason it made her chuckle. They could tease each other without any offence being taken by either of them although Ranvir considered the ongoing teasing as a pinch of flirting. Just as she was about to start typing out her reply, Giovanni had sent her another message.

**I’m in the indoor pool if you really miss me that much 😌**

Ranvir looked up from her phone and at Susanna, Kate, Charlotte and Laura they all seemed very occupied in reading and using their phones. Maybe she could try and sneak off without them knowing or lie and say that she was going back up to the room to get something. Standing up from her sunbed, she put her phone into her bag and swung it onto her shoulder.

“Where are you off to?” Susanna questioned, her eyes looking up from the book she was reading.

“I’m just going to grab something from upstairs. I won’t be long.” 

Susanna couldn’t help but notice how quickly she had rushed off before she had even had the chance to reply, her eyebrows raised in suspicion but she shrugged it off and went back to reading her book. 

Ranvir wandered around the hotel looking for the indoor pool like a lost child in a supermarket searching for her parents. She did follow all the signs but somehow ended up back in the same place. The entrance to the spa was on the right hand side and there were little shops on the left until she stopped in her tracks and found a flight of curved stairs that went downwards. Ranvir shrugged and took that route down the curved staircase. How did she not even see it before when she had probably walked past it like seven times? As she walked further down the stairs large glass windows reaching from the ceiling all the way down to the floor greeted her along with someone swimming in the pool.

Her hand pushed against the door and it slowly swung open. The smell of chlorine from the pool hit her senses straight away along with the slight warmth of the room. There was hardly anyone here apart from Giovanni who had spotted her and smiled immediately.

“So you did miss me then?” he spoke up, his voice echoing the large room.

Ranvir dumped her bag down onto the nearest sun lounger and perched herself down on the edge. 

“Why aren’t you outside in the pool?” she questioned. 

Giovanni swum towards the edge of the pool and rested his arms on the side. 

“I prefer to swim in here. Peace and quiet, plus nobody ever uses the indoor pool.” 

Ranvir couldn’t deny that he looked absolutely sizzling with his hair wet from the pool water. It definitely was a lot quieter in here than it was outside where there was music blaring out and kids screaming in the pool. She felt a sense of tranquillity wash over her enjoying the quiet surroundings of the indoor pool facilities. 

“Aren’t you going to come in?” he asked with a slight smirk on his face.

“I don’t really swim, Giovanni…” she trailed off feeling a little nervous. 

She was just making up excuses not to get in the pool with him so he wouldn’t have to look at her in a swimsuit. Ranvir knew he wouldn’t judge her or even care but no man had seen her like this in years so she was bound to feel self conscious. 

“Come on, Ranvir. It’s just you and me in here. No one else,” he said softly.

Ranvir ultimately gave in and pulled the summery beach dress she was wearing over her head, revealing her blood red swimsuit with a very lovely cleavage to show for it. Giovanni never meant for his eyes to wander but they did slowly scanning her small waist and curved hips...and those beautiful legs of hers. When she turned around to put her dress down on the sun lounger, his eyes immediately went down to her backside. He knew he shouldn't have looked or have been looking but she did have the most incredible arse. 

_Snap out of it, Giovanni!_

She made her way to the edge of the pool and sat down on the side, her legs now dangling in the water which felt cold at first but soon began to warm up. Giovanni swam to where she was sitting and placed his hands on her knees firmly. 

“I’m not getting in, Giovanni-” 

He cut her off by lifting her body off the edge and lowering her into the water with him. Giovanni kept his firm gaze on her, trying so hard not to let his eyes wander anywhere else but her face. Ranvir let out a small yelp, gripping onto his shoulders as her body was now submerged in the pool. Ranvir took a sharp intake of breath as his hands now touched the bare skin of the upper thighs. It took a little while for herself to get used to the temperature of the water before she was finally able to let go of Giovanni. 

“See?” he whispered softly as they were still in very close proximity with each other. “It isn’t so bad, yes?” 

Ranvir nodded her head slowly in response. She couldn’t believe that she was currently in an indoor swimming pool, on holiday with a man she’s barely known for two whole days and she really had no shame with flirting with him despite she was probably completely out of his league. In the back of her mind, Ranvir was trying her hardest to deny her attraction towards Giovanni and even if she was seriously pining for him it wouldn’t last. He resided in Sicily for most of the time and she lived in the quiet nature of the countryside. 

They swam together for a little while before spotting a random lilo right on the edge of the pool. Giovanni then made the horrendous suggestion by helping Ranvir onto the inflatable without her tipping back into the water. 

“Lift your leg up, Ranvir!” his hands were so dangerously close to groping her arse but it was the only way to push her up. 

Ranvir used all the strength in her arms to push herself up onto the inflatable. Eventually she did get on but she was only half on it. She felt like a little kid messing around in the swimming pool and the feeling of Giovanni’s hands fumbling with the back of her thighs to help her swing her leg over made her bark out a laugh. 

Her laugh echoed the entire room along with the wheezes that escaped from her lips. Ranvir couldn’t even shift her own weight. She was stuck and very close to falling off the inflatable.

“Giovanni, I’m stuck!” she breathed in between her uncontrollable laughing. 

Giovanni had the sudden urge to mess around with her a little bit so he began rocking the lilo back and forth. Ranvir’s grip on the inflatable weakened as her fingers slipped on the wet material. 

“Don’t you fucking dare!” she almost screamed at him.

“What? I’m not doing anything,” he smirked mischievously. 

Ranvir scowled at him for being a teasing bastard by trying to make her fall off the inflatable that was until with one push of his hand, the lilo flipped over and she fell straight back into the water with a large yelp. 

Of course Giovanni couldn’t help but burst out laughing that was until Ranvir came up back from underwater, running both her hands through her now wet hair and he swore he had never seen anything so fucking sexy in his entire life. His eyes widened and his pupils soon became dilated just at the sight of her. It was like one of those scenes from a movie. The way the beads of waters dripped down her cleavage made him stare for a little too long.

“What? Have you never seen a woman come up from being underwater before?” she teased him with a small giggle, noticing that he was still staring at her so deeply.

Giovanni snapped out of his trance and chuckled nervously to break the obvious sexual tension that was now arising between them. His cheeks burned crimson red and there was nothing he could do to stop it. 

“I have...but not like that.”

Ranvir chuckled away to herself as she swam towards the large steps and made her way out of the pool. The air inside the room hit her skin straight away making her shiver, grabbing her beach towel from inside her bag. Giovanni watched her attentively from still in the pool. Why couldn’t he seem to be able to take his eyes off her? Instead his mind went down a completely route...a very dangerous route, swimming to the steps himself and getting out of the large pool. Something within him just seemed to snap and he lost all self control in his mind and body.

Ranvir had laid herself back on the sun lounger, drying herself off from that little swim in the pool. She might come here more often if it meant hardly anyone coming in here... _just herself and Giovanni_. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Giovanni strolling towards her with a very unfamiliar look in his eyes. What on earth? He was probably just being cheeky again, that’s what she put it down to until he kneeled right on the edge of the lounger and found himself hovering above her. 

_Oh dear god…_

Ranvir froze and she felt her heart stop. She didn’t know what to do or how to react as a whole. Her heart thumped so loudly inside her chest and a lump formed right in the back of her throat, preventing her from getting any words out. 

“We should do this more often,” he whispered softly.

Her eyes widened feeling his hot breath against her face, her skin already burning up fairly quickly. 

“Do what?” she gulped, eventually finding a way to get the words out. 

By now, his hands were placed on the material on either side of her head and that bloody smirk was back plastered all over his face. What the fuck was he doing to her? Giovanni felt this strong feeling of desire wash over him. He was suddenly craving for her touch. Craving for her _kiss_. They had only met properly yesterday and for some reason Giovanni couldn’t find a simple explanation on why he couldn’t stop thinking about her. 

“This.” 

Ranvir glanced up and their eyes met in a deep and intense gaze. She could see the longing running deep into his eyes. Her leg brushed against his own causing both of them to shiver in response to that touch. God forbid if anyone had walked in and caught them in this _position_. People would certainly get the wrong idea but his lips were so dangerous close to touching hers now. Just inches away. 

The scandalous thought of kissing Giovanni had crossed her mind just once in her dreams last night but she forced that image out of mind. 

_Until now._

It seemed like the sexual tension had pretty much boiled over or was close to boiling over between them. Ranvir was definitely beginning to feel faint as Giovanni bent his head down but didn’t kiss her lips...but kissed her softly on the cheek instead. He felt the burning sensation of her skin against his lips making him smirk knowing that it had got her all hot and bothered. 

Ranvir felt like she had been left paralysed and unable to move, wondering what the fuck had just happened. Was it all real or just happening inside her own head? Giovanni had moved away from her feeling pretty satisfied with himself. In his defence, it was his way of finding out whether Ranvir was attracted to him and judging from her reaction he highly presumed she felt the _magic_ between them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things will get slightly filthy in the next chapter but not in the way you expect 👀


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FILTH WARNING! 
> 
> G isn't even in this chapter but he is in R's thoughts...

Ranvir had been left sitting right in the centre of her king sized bed back in her hotel room, crossed legged, reliving all the events that had happened today. Giovanni apologised and had to head off to a dance rehearsal for a show he was due to take part in so Ranvir was left on the sun lounger in the indoor pool pretty much stuck in that _moment_ they had. She never even bothered going back outside and sitting with the girls, she made up a lie and told them that she had a slight headache and was going upstairs for a nap. 

Her eyes kept glancing over at her phone which was on charge by the bedside table, waiting for something to happen. What happened this morning left her feeling a little confused and conflicted. Was that how a potential fling could go? Ending up gazing into each other's eyes, the flirting and constantly teasing one another whether that was in person or over text. A fling was just sex, right? No feelings involved otherwise things would get complicated or end in a complete disaster. That was the last thing Ranvir wanted. 

Ranvir said to herself she wouldn’t get involved with some fling or holiday romance as people would call it. She was not sure at all what was happening between them. How could she put a stop to it all before things go too far? Someone was bound to get hurt in the end...probably herself but she was numb enough now not to feel the pain as she had suffered enough over the years. 

Maybe avoiding him would do the trick and then his little attraction towards her will pass once he finds someone more exciting, younger and beautiful. No younger man wants to be seen publicly with a woman thirteen years older than him. It would be embarrassing and the British press would tear her apart if it had somehow been exposed that she was having a mild flirting dalliance with a handsome young Italian man. Ranvir pushed all those thoughts right to the back of her mind as she reached over for her phone, unplugging the charger from it. 

_Five o’clock_

The time on her phone read. For fuck sake she had barely got out of her swimsuit yet or even showered to get all that chlorine out of her hair. Ranvir didn’t have the energy to get up off the bed and get herself ready for the evening. She would rather stay in the safety of her hotel room without the risk of bumping into Giovanni...but then she remembered he walked her back to her room last night. Shit. He’ll know her room number now if he was to come looking for her. 

Eventually Ranvir did clamber off the bed and sort herself out, not even caring about how much time she was taking to get showered and ready. She came to realise that there was no point in even avoiding Giovanni as he had been so good towards her since they met. But the few _moments_ they had kept replaying themselves in her mind as she showered. Massaging the shampoo through her hair to make sure all the chlorine was out, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of her own nails massaging her scalp. 

The mental image of herself sharing a shower with Giovanni quickly sprung into her mind. Why was she even thinking about that? No matter how many times she managed to push that image well away, it sprung straight back into her thoughts. Maybe it was their time in the pool earlier on that gave her mind the inspiration for these scandalous thoughts. 

“Stop it, Ranvir. You can’t be thinking about him like that,” she told herself whilst washing the shampoo out of her hair. 

But of course her brain certainly had different ideas compared to what she had just told herself. The image of Giovanni pushing her up against the shower wall with their lips connected in a passionate kiss, moaning into each other’s mouths. The filth her mind had suddenly developed and the way her hand slowly moved down her own body thinking it was _his_ hand touching her. Oh god, what was she doing? 

Her hand slipped further and further down her body at its own accord before finding its way between her legs. Ranvir kept her eyes firmly closed now the image had developed into something more steamy once she brushed two fingers across her clit making herself gasp. She had never admitted to anyone, not even her closest friends, that she had never even touched herself before over anyone. It was completely new to her as self pleasure wasn’t something she would often think about but she was all alone in the shower with the dirty thoughts racing through her mind...she might as well try it out. Would she regret straight afterwards? Who knows. But the mere thought of Giovanni touching her and pleasuring her made a rush of her own arousal seep from her. Ranvir bit down on her bottom lip softly with her fingers now circling across her aching clit. Her breathing soon became more heavy and shallow as the thoughts continued to pass through her mind. It was like she had lost all self control and thought she would combust at any given moment unless she decided to do something about it. 

A soft but a fairly quiet moan slipped from her lips as she continued to tease her own clit, her wetness now dripping out from between her folds as her fingers collected the arousal. Soon pushing two fingers between her folds and teasing her opening with the tips of her fingers, she swore she would have almost wailed at that point the pleasure she was giving herself almost felt too bloody good. God she desperately wanted it to be Giovanni’s fingers giving her all the desire she needed to release. Maybe moaning out his name would make the experience more _realistic_.

“Giovanni…” she moaned out his name as she slid her fingers inside of her very slowly mainly to add to the pleasure and not build up towards her orgasm too quickly.

Ranvir wanted the feeling to last as long as possible but god the image of him sliding his fingers inside of her and saying the most filthiest things to her but in Italian just edged herself on even more. She pushed herself up against the wall more and more as she took a sharp intake of breath, beginning to move her fingers inside of her at a slow pace. Christ, did it feel good. She was already withering at her own touch. 

The image inside her mind soon escalated from Giovanni’s fingers to his aching cock being slowly inserted inside of her with her legs wrapped around his waist and the filthy talk between them made her increase the speed of her fingers. Any voice that was telling her stop this right now had been taken over by the overwhelming amount of pleasure she was currently feeling. Her wetness now seeped down her fingers just past her knuckles. Ranvir’s hand cupped her own breast and massaged it slowly whilst her thumb ran over her erect nipple. 

She moved her fingers faster, parting her thighs open as much as she could to plunge her fingers deeper and hit that right spot. Ranvir had the sudden thought of wondering if Giovanni had ever done something like this over her yet, from the way they were with each other earlier he must’ve at least had some passing filthy thoughts about her. Her eyes squeezed shut even more as her moans gradually became louder and louder and more frequent, the sound echoing the bathroom. 

Ranvir continued to moan Giovanni’s name breathlessly over and over again until she felt herself clench around her fingers along with her thighs beginning to tremble. Her orgasm was going to rip through her at any time now and nothing could prepare herself for that. She fumbled around her to try and find something to grip onto for when her orgasm did hit, her hand gripped onto the small metal railing that was used for people to help themselves in and out of the shower.

Ranvir genuinely thought her knees were going to buckle at any second as the increased amount of pleasure and shock waves throughout her body became far too much for her. She let out the most almighty pleasure filled cry as her legs shook underneath her. Her orgasm hit her like a ton of bricks with her back almost sliding down against the wall but she just managed to hold herself up thanks to the railing. The feeling of her juices quickly seeping out and dripping down her fingers as she slowly rode out her intense orgasm. Ranvir slowly opened her eyes and felt the tears brimming to the surface after the intensity of it all and the burning sensation of her own skin, the heavy panting and the somewhat shallow breathing left her feeling like a crumpled mess. 

At that moment, once she had calmed herself down and went through her thought process was when Ranvir had realised what she had done. Oh fucking god. She had just made herself come thinking about Giovanni mindlessly fucking her in the shower. Ranvir shook her head as she reached over for the conditioner so she could finish washing her hair knowing that a lot of time had probably passed since then.

As soon as Ranvir got out the shower, she checked the time realising she was running late for dinner plus she still needed to dry her hair, slap on some makeup and get dressed. Fuck sake. Picking up her phone in a literal blind panic, she texted Susanna telling her she was going to be a little late as she took a nap and overslept. Yes, it was a massive lie but it was the only excuse Ranvir could come up with. 

She didn’t even bother spending ages choosing what she was going to wear, but instead picked out the first thing that caught her eye which was a multi coloured summer evening dress that was of course fitted to show off her incredible figure and was floaty down the bottom. It will do for the short amount of time she had. Once finishing off drying her hair and putting the curlers through it to give her that messy beach hair look, it was time for the makeup. Ranvir went for a more natural look tonight as she really couldn’t be bothered to go all out and spend loads of time on it. Just as Ranvir picked up her phone to put inside her bag it vibrated and a message popped up on the screen...from Giovanni.

**Will you be at the beach bar tonight? I’m still to get you that drink 😉**

Ranvir’s fingers hovered over the keyboard wondering what the fuck she was going to reply back with. 

_Maybe_

He replied back almost instantly with Ranvir staring down at her phone screen and nothing else.

**Playing hard to get now, huh? I like that 🥴**

_Will you stop being such a cocky little bastard once you get me that drink? 🤭_

**Maybe**

Ranvir checked the top of her phone screen and saw the time. Shit. Now she was really running late. She wouldn’t be surprised if the girls had eaten and left the restaurant by now. Ranvir hastily fumbled around the room in a desperate hurry to find her room key when eventually she did, she tried to walk as quickly as possible in the sandal wedge shoes she had on. Trying not to go down on her ankle and break it in the process. As usual, the lift was being a bastard and Ranvir quickly lost her patience and pressed the button over and over again until she had enough and took the stairs instead. 

Once making it downstairs to the lobby, she quickly walked towards the buffet restaurant the sound of her stomach rumbling as she looked around for the girls eventually finding them sitting at the table in the far corner. Christ she had felt like she had run a bloody marathon. 

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” was the first thing Ranvir said once she had sat herself down, dumping her bag on the floor next to her. “I overslept my nap.” 

The girls were already onto their desserts with a mix of fruit and small slices of those sickly posh puddings. Ranvir felt so awful for turning up so late but it was her own bloody fault. If she meant eating her dinner by herself then so be it. She didn’t want to hold her friends back from leaving and having fun.

“We’ve already got you some food but it might be cold now,” Laura passed a plate full of food over to Ranvir. 

Oh she did have the most thoughtful friends in the whole world. Ranvir took the plate from Laura which had the contents of pasta, freshly made tomato sauce with cheese sprinkled on top. 

“You guys didn’t have to get me food. I’m big enough to get my own.” 

“It saves you from having to get up again and be left with the scraps,” Susanna said with a smile. 

Ranvir was so thankful for her GMB friends as sometimes she wondered what she would do without them. They always gave her the best advice and support through everything but sometimes it was the little things like getting her food was the main reason it made her smile. Ranvir quickly ate her food before it went stone cold, it was still warm but not piping hot in any way. The girls stayed sitting where they were until Ranvir had finished her meal, she wasn’t bothered about dessert and just wanted to get a bloody drink down her neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooop! Things are really hotting up


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G invites R back to where he is staying for a drink...things get a wee bit hot 😉

It was still light outside so they all decided to head to the beach bar to get themselves a drink. Ranvir looked around and saw no sign of Giovanni, he’ll probably turn up out of the blue when she leasts expects it knowing what he was like. Once she had got her Sicilian Sunset cocktail that Giovanni had recently recommended she’d try and sat down at the table gazing at the view of the beach and ocean. 

Ranvir slowly sipped on the cocktail, her mind wandering elsewhere as the girls sat nattering away to one another. Kate glanced over at Ranvir thoughtfully as she seemed a bit lost today. It didn’t worry her but she wondered why she seemed a little bit off. Kate put it down to being away from home and Tushaan as she never had any time away from him. 

“I’ve already started planning a trip to explore Sicily for next week,” Laura spoke up excitedly. 

But of course she did as she was the more adventurous one in the group. Ranvir wasn’t even listening to the conversation full stop as she was completely lost in her own thoughts mainly over Giovanni. Why the fuck couldn’t she stop thinking about the man? Out of the corner of her eye Ranvir spotted the Italian in the near distance heading towards where they were sitting. For reasons because of what did in the shower earlier, she couldn’t even look at him in the same way. It felt so wrong yet liberating at the same time. 

“Good evening, ladies!” Giovanni called cheerfully once he had approached their table. 

Ranvir had almost spat her drink out onto everyone when she looked at him. He went for the flat hair look tonight with his bleeding shirt half unbuttoned and a pair of jeans. How did he look so fucking good all the goddamn time? All the other girls greeted him with a smile before Susanna excused herself to go to the bar.

Charlotte spun herself around to watch where she was actually going, her eyebrows raised once she saw Susanna meeting up with the man she was talking to yesterday. 

“Oh yeah, whilst Susanna isn’t here...she disappeared with that guy earlier on.” Charlotte pointed out, turning herself back round to face everyone else. 

“Gone for quite some time as well.” Kate spoke up with a wink before chuckling. 

Giovanni had pulled a chair up and sat himself down right next to Ranvir and very closely as well. Their knees almost touching each other’s. The girls continued to gossip over the mystery guy Susanna had started sneaking off with leaving Ranvir and Giovanni to spark their own conversation.

“You look stunning tonight but then again you always do.” he said with a warm smile.

Ranvir felt her cheeks flush once again from his compliment. He was just so sweet bless his heart. 

“You don’t look too bad yourself, Pernice.” she replied, once again slurping on her drink.

Giovanni watched as his eyes flickered down to watch her lick her lips after taking a sip of her drink. It drove him slightly wild every single time she did that. He was tempted to ask her if she wanted to go somewhere a little more  _ private  _ so they could talk without her friends listening in on their conversation. 

His hand moved onto her knee discreetly, hoping that neither of the girls had noticed his rather forward gesture towards Ranvir. Giovanni hadn’t stopped thinking about their little moment at the indoor pool this morning. If he had it his way he definitely would’ve gone for the lips and not the cheek but his brain chickened out at the last minute. In a way, he didn’t want to make a move on her too quickly just in case it scared her away but their moments had not gone unnoticed by him. Giovanni edged a little closer to Ranvir, close enough so no one could make out what was being said between them.

“Shall we go somewhere a little more... _ private _ ?” he whispered softly just inches from her ear.

_ Private?  _

But why? Surely they could have a quiet conversation at the table without having to move unless there was a reason why Giovanni wanted to be somewhere private with her. Ranvir put her drink down on the table and turned her head to face him completely. 

“Why do you want to go somewhere private?” she quizzed him.

“Because I like having you all to myself.” 

Which was the honest truth. Giovanni liked to have Ranvir to himself because he could be himself around her. He had developed a sort of trust with her that they can be silly together without feeling uncomfortable. 

“You can’t keep stealing me away, Giovanni. Some people might think we’re doing something we shouldn’t be.” she whispered quietly back to him. 

Giovanni cracked out a small laugh in response. Of course people were going to think that but nothing had actually happened between them... _ yet _ . He chewed on his bottom lip discreetly to hide what he was really thinking. In reality, all he wanted to do was to push her up against the wall away from everyone else and kiss her with so much passion it would leave them both gasping for air. But instead maybe more of a personal chat was ideal.

“I just want to talk to you...come back to mine?” 

_ Go back to his? Don’t do it, Ranvir.  _

Ranvir toyed with the idea for a few moments. Susanna had already snuck off with someone else so maybe they could sneak away unnoticed, hopefully. They were only going there to chat not to rip each other’s clothes off and have hot sex. 

God dammit. 

_ Stop thinking about sex, Ranvir!  _

“Alright then. Let’s try and sneak off without the girls noticing.”

Giovanni nodded before they stood up from their seats and quietly snuck off without Laura, Kate or Charlotte knowing as they were still too busy gossiping to even notice anything. The walk to where he stayed wasn’t far but there was a row of bungalows that looked so beautiful. Ranvir thought instantly that it was where couples that wanted more privacy stayed. They arrived at the last bungalow on that stretch and Giovanni fumbled in his jean pockets for the key.

“These are the Romance Bungalows. Please don’t ask me why they’re called that.” he chuckled, looking back at her before eventually finding the key. 

Ranvir laughed in response as she thought it was quite silly that the hotel would name their private bungalows something to do with romance but then again, it was probably mainly to do with the fact that it was popular amongst couples. Giovanni unblocked the door and pushed it open, gesturing for Ranvir to enter first as she walked up the steps and thanked him for being such a gentleman. 

Inside the bungalow was stunning, it was the exact same decor as her own hotel room but with more rooms to enjoy. Ranvir was met with the living room first and the kitchen which was clean and tidy. On the other side of the room there was a large television and a coffee table which supplied two empty cups and a dish beneath them with a black kettle. There was a private terrace which led to Giovanni’s own pool and two cream sunbeds. Everything about it was so tranquil and gave her a sense of relaxation as Giovanni came up to stand behind her.

“Do you like it?” he whispered just inches away from her ear.

Ranvir almost shivered at the feeling of his hot breath against her skin. Now she wished she stayed in place like this as beyond the pool outside, there was a perfect view of the beach and the ocean. 

“How do you even afford this place, Giovanni? It’s stunning,” she breathed walking further into the living room before catching a glimpse of the bedroom.

_ Looks tempting… _

She almost wanted to bang her head against the wall just to stop her mind from wandering to a filthy place. But then again, his king sized bed did look rather comfy. His bedroom also led outside onto the private terrace and there was an en suite bathroom as well. 

“Oh no, I don’t pay for it. The hotel let me stay here the months I’m working.” 

Lucky guy, probably because he was so popular amongst the guests. Ranvir immediately wondered how many women he actually brought back here for a drink or a little  _ chat _ . It made her wonder why he actually brought her here, she wasn’t going to jump into bed with him that easily even if that was not his intention at all. 

Giovanni kneeled down and opened the mini bar fridge, pulling out a bottle of champagne. Was it too much? It was practically the only decent drink he had unless he offered her a cup of tea or coffee. 

“Is champagne okay?” he asked, making sure it was what she wanted before even attempting to open the bottle.

“Champagne? You’re really spoiling me, Mr Pernice.” she giggled.

“A beautiful lady like yourself deserves all the finer things in life.” 

He winked at her before grabbing two champagne glasses from the cupboard. His hands fumbled around in the drawers trying to find the wine key to cut off the foil below the large lip of the bottle. Ranvir had made herself comfortable on the sofa, placing her bag down next to her. Giovanni then found a kitchen towel and folded it lengthwise before placing it over the cage of the cork to prevent it from flying off whilst he opened it. He put quite a bit of pressure on the cork whilst twisting the bottle, feeling it loosen before a large pop filled the room. 

Ranvir watched him the whole time, transfixed by the way his arm muscles flexed whilst opening the champagne bottle. She felt herself almost dribble down her chin just thinking about it. Giovanni poured the liquid into the two glasses equally, catching a glance at Ranvir in the process.

“Quite strong, aren’t you? You made that look easy.” 

Giovanni smirked to himself whilst looking up at her. It was not really that easy, he just wanted to impress her and he thinks it did the job perfectly. He walked around the kitchen counter with the two glasses in his hand and perched himself down on the sofa  _ very close  _ to Ranvir before handing her the glass. 

“Were you impressed?” 

Ranvir took a small sip of the liquid tasting a little bit first. My god, it tasted amazing and she presumed it was some very expensive champagne provided by the hotel.

“Maybe.” she teased. 

“Maybe, huh?” He raised his eyebrows. “This might impress you more.”

Giovanni reached forward to place the glass down on the coffee table, his fingers unbuttoning the rest of the buttons on his shirt before his hands untucked the material from his jeans. Ranvir couldn’t hide the redness from her cheeks when he took his shirt off in front of her. 

_ Jesus fuck. _

She gulped whilst her eyes no longer had any self control as they wandered down his tanned torso, admiring his  _ family pack  _ of abs. Ranvir had seen him topless earlier today but for some reason this moment had more of an impact on her mind, she didn’t know how to behave at this point. Giovanni noticed how flustered Ranvir had become within a few seconds as his fingers traced the curve of her cheek. She was burning hot. 

“You like what you see? Yes? Because your skin is burning hot.” 

Ranvir’s mouth watered almost in an instant wondering how the fuck he had just made that sentence sound so fucking dirty. Giovanni firmly took hold of her hand and placed it on his torso. Their eyes locking in a gaze as he guided her hand slowly down his upper body, her fingers lightly brushing across his abs. She felt like she was suffocating at this point. 

“I’ve seen much better.”

Now she was very much teasing him and he knew that completely. Giovanni decided to turn up the flirting charm even more. Not only was he attracted to Ranvir but he was starting to like her quite a lot. 

“I love it when you tease me,  _ Ranvi _ .” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter includes pizza and a sensual massage...👀


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> G gives R a sensual massage involving sun cream and they go on a friendly little pizza date 👀

All Ranvir could think about was what happened last night with Giovanni at his place. The flirting continued throughout the evening but nothing else happened apart from the kisses on the cheek and her lips lingering once again against his skin. The sexual tension had really boiled over at that point but neither of them made a move to do something about it. But the new nickname he had for her made that unfamiliar feeling in the pit of her stomach return once again. What the fuck was this feeling? 

Ranvir shook it all off as she put her book down next to her on the sunbed. The sun was shining brightly once again in beautiful Sicily. It suddenly occurred to her that she really liked it here and thought about coming back again in the future. The warm breeze hit her face whilst looking upwards at the clear blue sky. Ranvir hadn’t seen a single cloud since the day they arrived on the island. It was just herself today as Laura, Kate and Charlotte opted to spend the day on the beach and Susanna had wandered off with her mystery man once again. She enjoyed the peace and quiet around her as the majority of people had gone off to get lunch that was until she saw Giovanni walking across the bridge towards where she was currently sitting. 

The man couldn’t seem to keep his distance from her for more than five minutes, they had suddenly become attached via the hip. He appeared almost everywhere she went but then again he did work here so what else did she expect? 

“Ciao bella!” 

His voice almost made her jump as she was lost in her own thoughts once again. It was becoming a bit of a habit of hers. Ranvir removed her sunglasses from her face and smiled up at the Italian. Giovanni was once again topless with shorts and a pair of flip flops on, a gold loose chain around his neck and steel rimmed sunglasses. He did look good. 

_Very good._

“Ciao, Mr Pernice.” she greeted with a smile. 

Giovanni perched himself down near the end of her sunbed. Of course he was going to make himself comfortable as it was just the two of them around the area they were at the moment. 

“I need a small favour from you, Ranvi.” 

Ranvir raised her eyebrows, immediately wondering what the favour was that he wanted from her. It better not be something scandalous but she did sit up from the sunbed in mere curiosity.

“Depends on the favour.” 

“I’m doing a rumba class later on this afternoon and I need a partner so I can demonstrate to the guests what is required for this dance...will you step in and be my dance partner?” he asked as their eyes met.

Dance partner? He must be taking the piss. Why her though? He could’ve chosen someone who actually had some dance experience but instead he asked her. Ranvir didn’t even have a clue what the rumba was, thinking it through thoroughly she had it in her head that it was a slow dance of some sort which would be much better for her. Latin wasn’t exactly something that took her fancy but maybe a bit of ballroom dancing would. 

“Tell me about the rumba first...then I might consider your offer,” she responded.

“Well, it is known as the dance of love. We dance it to slow, sensual music with a Latin beat and features a hip action known as the Cuban Motion. I think you’d be good at it which is why I’m asking you to be my dance partner,” he explained as his hand was now placed on her lower leg. 

_The dance of love? A slow dance which is pretty sensual?_

It made Ranvir question even more why he had chosen her. Maybe it was just another excuse for him to get up close and personal with her. It made Ranvir chuckle with amusement. He wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to the flirting tactics. 

“How close do we have to be…” she trailed off once she saw that Giovanni had lunged forward towards her and their faces were just inches away from each other’s.

“Like this,” his nose softly rubbed against hers causing goosebumps to form on her skin. 

Ranvir softly bit down on her bottom lip as their eyes continued to be locked in a continuous gaze. Feeling each other’s hot breaths against their faces. Giovanni’s eyes softened more and more as the progress of their gaze developed into something a little more intense but that was all broken once Ranvir spoke up again.

“I’ll be your dance partner but only if you rub sun cream on my back,” she whispered quietly.

Rubbing sun cream on Ranvir’s back? Giovanni jumped at the opportunity and it wouldn’t be so bad as there was hardly anyone around for them to be public gossip. As he was busy in his thought process, Ranvir fumbled around in her bag and found the sun cream before handing it over to Giovanni. He had to move himself so she could lie down on her front. Giovanni took a sharp intake of breath when he noticed her swimsuit was backless and she had made the move by pulling the straps down her arms.

Ranvir knew exactly what she was doing by making Giovanni perform this action on her. Teasing him. That’s what it was. It was her payback for him making her all hot and bothered last night. It was rather mischievous of her but she liked to play it dirty with him sometimes when it came to the teasing and flirting. 

“Make sure you rub it in properly,” she spoke loud enough with the side of her face buried against the beach towel. “Really massage it in.” 

She couldn’t help but giggle away quietly knowing exactly what his reaction would be. Red face, lip bite and trembling hands. Giovanni squirted a considerable amount of sun cream into the palm of his hand, enough so it would rub in properly. Once his hands and the coldness of the sun cream touched her skin, Ranvir almost gasped. His hands were already roaming across, up and down her back. 

Giovanni made sure every single inch of her back had sun cream rubbed onto it and slowly began the process of massaging it in. He immediately felt her relax at his touch and a sigh of relief escaped from her parted lips. His hands started massaging the liquid in at the lower back, right up the base of her spine. 

Ranvir slowly closed her eyes. My god it felt so fucking good. She had a plan to vocalise her satisfaction and up the sexual tension even more. It was a racy idea but it was her payback plan after all. It had to be very convincing. 

“Oh my goodness, Giovanni...that feels so good,” she breathed in one go. 

Giovanni was almost shocked at her words. Was he really making it feel so good? She looked so relaxed and content from where he was positioned so his technique must’ve been pretty high standard. His hands then moved upwards on both sides of her spine and all the way up to her bare shoulders. 

Maybe it was time to turn up the flirtation levels and go for a more _seductive_ approach to the situation. Ranvir almost smirked to herself picturing his exact reaction. 

“You’re so good with your hands,” she said with a little hint of seduction in her voice. 

Giovanni immediately felt the blush creeping up onto his cheeks as his hands began to make a circular motion and pressed a little more firmly with his thumbs as he made the circles. The sun cream was definitely beginning to soak into her skin, giving it a beautiful layer of shine on the surface. 

Now Ranvir decided it was time to go full throttle with her payback plan. Oh how she was enjoying this far too much. A tinge of amusement spread across her face. She let a small moan slip from her lips as his hands massaged a particular spot on her back. Giovanni’s face was most likely now bright red as it was burning with the stuff she was coming out with. It was a big turn on whilst he bit down on his bottom lip quite harshly, drawing a tiny bit of blood but drew it away by running his tongue across his bottom lip. 

“Oh right there, Giovanni. That’s the spot…” she almost snorted but managed to hold it all back. 

By now all the sun cream had been rubbed in but Giovanni somehow found himself still massaging her back. Mainly because he wanted to keep on hearing those suggestive comments and the gorgeous sounds she was making. He continued to massage that one spot Ranvir made vocal that she liked, putting a little more pressure on that particular spot. 

“How does that feel?” he asked, trying so hard to sound like he was in control of his emotions and the thoughts currently racing through his mind. 

Ranvir could hear the slight break in his voice as he spoke. Her plan was clearly working to the maximum completely satisfying her appetite for payback. She was questioning in her mind whether to push the boundaries a little further. 

_Push him over the edge more._

“So good…” she moaned out just a tad louder. 

Giovanni felt his hands immediately beginning to tremble over her rather sensual moan. He had to control himself. He couldn’t lose control over her but the beautiful sounds she was currently making weren’t exactly helping him out. His eyes closed hoping it would bring him back down to earth and gain back control of his wandering mind. Enough was enough so Giovanni decided to stop. Maybe if it was in her hotel room or something then maybe he would’ve carried on but people were already beginning to return from having their lunch. 

Ranvir smiled to herself as she adjusted the straps of her swimsuit back onto her shoulders. He was _very good_ with his hands and imagined what else they’d be good at. She spun her body back around to face him and noticed how red his face was, the flush on his cheeks could be seen from metres away. 

“Thank you so much. That was _incredible_ ,” she smiled softly at him.

“Do you fancy having lunch with me?” he asked, nervously scratching his head. 

Lunch with Giovanni? She might as well go since the girls were away doing their own thing. 

“You know what, that would be lovely.” 

Ranvir gathered all her stuff together and threw everything into her straw woven bag. She glanced over at Giovanni who was now standing back up again still quite flustered but it wasn’t as bad as it was a couple of minutes ago. As she stood up from the sunbed, he immediately offered his arm out to her and she happily accepted it. Their arms linking together as they began walking over the bridge together. By now, everything they did together felt so natural. A genuine connection between them had developed since they met and the more time they spent with each other, the more that connection deepened. 

Giovanni led her across to the food court where there was a selection of different foods but he guided her away from all of that making her question where the fuck was he taking her. Right in the corner there was a chef rolling out fresh pizza dough and behind him was a proper Italian pizza oven. Ranvir felt herself smile as the smell of freshly cooked pizza now surrounded their senses. 

“What kind of pizza would you like?” he asked her softly, leaning in towards her. 

“Oh goodness...it has to be margarita with extra cheese on it.” 

Giovanni nodded and started speaking to the chef in Italian, presumably to tell him what pizza they both wanted. Ranvir couldn’t understand a word of what was being said. Her entire expression transitioned to confusion within seconds. There were a few people standing and waiting in front of them so she knew they would have to wait a bit until they could collect their meals. The chef was doing two things at once, talking to Giovanni and hastily applying the toppings onto someone’s pizza. She looked a bit closer and saw the pineapple being placed on top of the cheese and ham. Once Giovanni had finished talking, his face screwed up in what Ranvir thought was utter disgust.

“No no no no...someone has ordered pineapple on top of their pizza?” he mumbled almost in annoyance.

“What’s wrong with that?” she questioned. 

Giovanni shook his head multiple times whilst mumbling in Italian. Did he have a problem with pineapple on pizza? Judging by the way he was behaving, clearly he did. 

“Pineapple does not belong on pizza. Who the fuck came up with that idea, huh? Disgusting.” he said in absolute pure disgust. 

Ranvir chuckled in amusement. Typical Italian complaining about everything. There was nothing wrong with pineapple on pizza but it did spark a huge debate amongst most people. 

“It’s actually not that bad, Giovanni. Have you even tried it?” 

She immediately presumed what his answer was going to be. A big fat no. 

“I don’t need to try it, Ranvi. It looks disgusting just looking at it.” 

Ranvir couldn’t help but bark out a laugh at his Italian stubbornness as she naturally leaned against his side, resting her head on his shoulder with her giggles continuing the escape from her lips. God he did make her laugh, even if it was over a food combination Giovanni considered to be illegal in his mind. Once the giggles had passed, their pizzas had been cooked and were ready and two white plates. Giovanni took the plates and thanked the chef before taking a careful walk to a table that was available. Ranvir offered a hand with one of the plates but he insisted he’d carry it for her. 

Giovanni placed the plates down on the empty table before rushing to pull a chair out for Ranvir. Her heart immediately fluttered as his gentlemanly side shone through once again. 

“Why thank you, Mr Pernice.” she smiled as she sat herself down on the chair, feeling it being pushed forward so she was closer to the table.

“Anything for the beautiful lady.” 

My god the food smelt so good. Ranvir knew she couldn’t beat the smell of freshly baked pizza that was smothered in cheese. It was unhealthy but it was a small treat. She picked up a slice and the cheese was so stringy it made her mouth water as she took a bite out of the piping hot food. Ranvir was immediately in food heaven. It was definitely one of the best pizzas she had ever tasted. Giovanni waited for her approval before starting his, making sure she was happy with her meal.

“This is so good.” she licked her lips tasting the fresh tomato sauce. 

Giovanni instantly smiled, happy that she approved of a proper Italian pizza. The pizzas in the UK were satisfactory but the pizzas in Italian were a completely different standard. They spent the rest of the little _friendly lunch date_ laughing and giggling, telling each other stories of the oddest food combinations they ever had during their lifetime. Neither of them wanted the moment to end but Giovanni had a dance class to teach within a matter of two hours which Ranvir agreed to be his dance partner in. There was no denying that she was nervous but Giovanni would get her through it. 

He was a brilliant teacher after all but today showed her that dancing is not only where his _talents_ lie. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be the rumba lesson and the sexual tension boils over once again...😌


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumba lesson time! 😌

The rumba class soon came along a lot quicker than Ranvir had expected. Giovanni reassured her that everything would be okay as he could sense she was feeling a little on edge. He placed his hands on her shoulders and soothed her skin with his comforting touch. Ranvir immediately felt herself and her tense body relax a little more. It was only the rumba. What was the worst thing that could possibly happen? She knew she had prepared herself mentally and physically to get up close and personal with Giovanni. It was going to be a difficult challenge especially after all the little  _ moments  _ they had between them over the last few days but it was only an hour of learning basic dance steps. 

Giovanni had given her proper dance shoes to wear. Her eyes widened and she winced a little bit walking around the beach bar wearing them for a good half an hour so she could get used to the feel of them. They did rub against her skin and Ranvir knew there would be a few blisters left on both of her feet but she was doing this for Giovanni. 

“You’ll get used to them, Ranvi. I promise.”

Something Ranvir didn’t expect after he said that was a gentle kiss right on her temple. Once again, that weird feeling erupted from the pit of her stomach. She was still questioning what this feeling was that she kept experiencing. Ranvir didn’t have time to think about it as the class was about to begin, she took her place next to Giovanni as her gaze wandered to all the guests that had joined in. A lot of them were married couples or boyfriend and girlfriend. 

“The rumba is a very beautiful and sensual dance. This dance requires a lot of natural hip action and weight change between every move you make with your legs and feet,” he explained thoroughly to the small group. 

Ranvir listened very carefully as Giovanni talked through every step that was included in the rumba including the nine different rumba walks. It almost left her wide eyed, she couldn’t possibly remember all this, never mind demonstrate it with Giovanni. In a way, she felt a little inferior. Giovanni was a trained professional dancer and she wasn’t yet they were going to demonstrate rumba steps together. 

“So myself and my partner, the beautiful Ranvir over here, are going to demonstrate rumba box steps.” he gestured towards her with a smile, making her cheeks blush lightly. 

Giovanni immediately got her into hold with his hand slipping down towards her lower back. Ranvir wondered if his hand meant to be that far down but she shook that thought off whilst he adjusted the frame until he was satisfied enough with it. Giovanni was quite impressed with her frame despite her never doing this sort of thing before, it surprised him in a good way. 

“I don’t know if I can do this, Giovanni.” she whispered quietly.

“Yes, you can. Just follow my lead and everything will be okay.” he replied softly.

Ranvir took a deep breath and nodded her head in response. She knew she was being silly again but once again Giovanni had soothed her nerves. How on earth does he manage to achieve that so easily? 

“Now, gentleman these are your steps. First you start forward with your left foot, side with your right foot, close left foot to right foot, back with right foot, side with left foot and close right foot to left foot.” he demonstrated slowly.

Giovanni repeated the steps quite a few times and Ranvir was left in a trance by his swift hip action. He made it look so bloody easy but then again he was the professional here. Now it was time for her steps to be demonstrated. Oh god. 

“Ladies, my lovely dance partner and I will go through your steps so we start back on the right foot, side with the left foot, close right foot to left foot, forward with the left foot, side with the right foot and close left foot to right foot.” 

His eyes glanced down as she slowly performed the steps as he talked through it. Giovanni smiled away to himself that Ranvir was picking all the steps up pretty quickly. The way she moved so gracefully made all sorts of thoughts race through his mind. But her swiftly moving hips was the centre of his attention. Even though it was a slow, romantic dance her hip action was so incredibly  _ sexy _ . Giovanni knew he mustn’t let himself get distracted by Ranvir as they had at least another fifty minutes of this. 

Once they had danced the steps, all the other guests tried it out. Ranvir’s heart warmed at Giovanni going round and being so supportive to everyone, making sure they were okay and comfortable. Once again the soft side of Giovanni Pernice was shining through. She started to love that side of him, the caring and kind hearted side that the majority of people very rarely saw. When they look at him they only see the obscenely handsome and sizzling Italian man, not the real him. 

Giovanni told Ranvir that they had to sell the story in the rumba. The chemistry, the flirtation, some scenes of passion...it all had to be there and show through both of them. She wasn’t the best actress but all she could do was try her absolute best. His hands were now placed firmly on her hips as he talked her through a move called the Cuban Motion. Giovanni now had firm control of her hip action as she slowly swayed them from side to side making sure her upper body stayed still and they maintained intense eye contact throughout. 

Ranvir kept her gaze firmly on him, feeling his hands leave her hips so she could maintain the hip movements by herself. At this point, Giovanni had completely forgotten about the other guests and his focus was solely on her. Nothing else. Everything else around them didn’t even matter. They got themselves back into the frame and danced through the rumba box steps together. Their eyes didn’t even leave each other’s at all.

“Now I’m going to spin you around slowly.” he spoke softly.

Ranvir nodded before feeling herself being spun around slowly, trying so hard to maintain her balance all the way through until she was left facing him again. His hands pulled her body closer to his as he dipped her backwards as far as she could go. Giovanni was left gobsmacked over how flexible she was and he gulped. She was nothing but utterly sensational. The chemistry and sexual tension soon fizzled up to the surface once again as he slowly pulled her upper body back up, their eyes immediately meeting. Ranvir felt her heart pounding so hard inside her chest she literally thought it was going pound right through her skin. 

Her cheeks were so incredibly flustered as their bodies gravitated towards each other more at their own accord. Their noses brushed against one another feeling the heat of their hot breaths on each other’s faces. At this point, they weren’t even dancing anymore just lost in their own little world with each other. Ranvir felt the palms of her hands become a little more shaky with a thin layer of sweat covering them. Christ what the fuck was happening? Her hormones suddenly hit through the roof as a sudden desire had grown towards the Italian. Giovanni on the other hand was struggling to deal with all this full stop. His breathing had become marginally shallow and heavier. Whatever was happening between them once again, it would certainly boil over and explode at some point. The question was just when? 

It was like one of them wanted to give in to their urges and the other person was trying to hold back as much as possible. Ranvir suddenly realised that there were still people around and took a step from him, escaping his almost suffocating grasp. It was like he never even wanted to let her go from his arms. Giovanni snapped back into reality and turned his body round, no one was watching or hoped that no one had been watching them the whole time. Clasping his hands together whilst pushing his emotions to one side, he went back to carry on with the class. Ranvir tagged along behind him with so many questions racing through her mind.

_ Why do we keep having these moments? _

_ Were we just about to share a kiss?  _

She remained slightly distracted for the rest of the lesson before it soon came to a close much to her relief in some respect. Ranvir was in a dire need of a drink to really think about what on earth was going on inside that head of hers. She snuck off to the bar once removing those bloody dance shoes, looking down at her swollen and blistered feet she winced in slight agony before slipping her flip flops back on. 

“You did incredible today!” he beamed with pride once the small crowd had dispersed. 

Ranvir leaned against the bar once Giovanni came along to join her with the biggest smile on his face. Despite having one of those  _ moments  _ with him once again, she thought she did alright considering having zero dance experience. A little smile appeared from the corner of her lips. Were they not going to discuss that moment between them? Apparently not. 

“I guess I have you to thank for all that. I rather enjoyed it.” 

It was soon back to normal with them, flirting and teasing their way through conversations whether they were long or short but they kept dancing around those moments between them which never seemed to be brought up in any discussion. Ranvir put it down to it being in the heat of the moment. Nothing else. Giovanni offered to walk her back to her hotel room as the time was getting on to get ready for the evening. She happily accepted his offer and took a slow stroll back towards the hotel. 

All Giovanni could think about was that moment between them even though they refused to even acknowledge and discuss, it still replayed in his mind over and over again. Maybe he should bring it up into the conversation just to see where her mind was at about the situation. 

“Even when I’m with you...I can’t seem to get close enough to you.” he blurted out whilst Ranvir was mid sentence talking about something. 

Ranvir stared up at him almost wide eyed as they strolled into the lift together, her finger instantly pressing on the button to the fourth floor. She said nothing to him until the doors were completely shut. The silence lasted a mere few seconds before she finally found the words to say something. 

“Please elaborate on that.” she chuckled nervously.

“Do you feel a  _ connection  _ between us, Ranvi?” he asked softly, his body swiftly moving closer to hers. 

“I mean...we flirt and tease one another...that’s all there is to it, right?” 

Giovanni shook his head. She was in clear denial of what she was feeling towards him despite remembering that the day before she made herself orgasm just at the mere thought of him. Ranvir wasn’t at all confused but she just didn’t know how to handle her emotions sometimes and began to show more clearly. 

“How do you explain all the moments that have happened between us since day one? I feel something special with you and I’ve never felt like this towards anyone before.” 

All Ranvir wanted to do was get out of this bloody lift before she bangs her head against the wall in frustration. Her wish did come true as the lift stopped on her floor before making an almost immediate escape. Giovanni hastily grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her back, making her body turn to face his. She could see deep into his eyes that he was questioning why she was trying to run away from him like this. It felt to him like she was scared of acting upon or admitting to herself that she liked him. Ranvir tugged herself away from his grasp. She couldn’t feel this way about someone she barely knew for less than a week and she had a son at home to think about...including herself. 

“I’ll see you tonight, Giovanni.” 

That was the last thing she said to him before walking off down the hallway, leaving Giovanni in the lift on his own. He pressed the button back down to the ground floor feeling a little disheartened. Maybe he should leave it a couple of days and approach her on the subject again. Clearly Ranvir didn’t feel at all comfortable talking about it and he didn’t blame her. Mind you, they’ve only known each other for three days and Giovanni decided to leave it until he thought the time was right but Ranvir was only going to be here for three weeks...then she’ll be going back home to London. 

Giovanni was now left wondering the fuck he should do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things carry on heating up and a drunken night looms...👀

**Author's Note:**

> A little warning that I Say A Little Prayer might be put on hold again for a bit because I'm obsessed with writing this! ❤️


End file.
